Lukes next adventure: the time that never was
by yeti100
Summary: luke is back for another adventure at university features a lot of characters from SJA and even a few from DW, sixth chapter now up and finished, update to make minor edits pointed out in reviews
1. sunny side up

yay new story, as always i don't own SJA, credit goes to TKLee and DannyP these guys are awesome reviewers, please enjoy

* * *

Luke's POV

"please Luke, if i have to stand between the two of them for much longer i will explode"

i smiled at Marcus, for a week now he had been asking for permission to tell Rani how Clyde felt about her, and vice versa, ever since we all met up together over the Easter break

"no!, no playing matchmaker, those two have to figure it out themselves"

he tilted his head back and let loose a growl of frustration

"seriously! its so obvious, i can't believe neither of them have said anything yet"

he had a point

"i know what you mean, but regardless, no interfering!"

he relented for about five seconds, before turning to me with a mischievous grin on his face

"fair enough, i have other things i can interfere in"

before i could question him, he grabbed my arm and pulled me in close, we both leaned in for a gentle kiss, after a few seconds we broke apart

"you still can't interfere" he crossed his arms and turned to walk to his lecture "I'll see you later OK"

he was still sulking, so i sent a positive buzz of emotions across our mental connection, his expression was fixed for about two seconds before he started grinning.  
walking in our separate directions i headed towards my lecture.

the lecturer was quite interesting, and i only needed to correct him once. i got a few strange looks but most people were used to me doing that by now. after i left the lecture hall i had about an hour left before Marcus would be finished in his lecture, so i called Maria on video chat

"hey Luke, whats up"

"hi Maria, listen i need some advice"

i was glad i could still talk to Maria, she always gave me good advice

"OK then Luke what do you need advice on"

"well I've been going out with Marcus for a little while, and we spend loads of time together, but we've never gone out or done anything together that didn't involve coursework or aliens"

she smiled at me, she knew why i was worried

"well then Luke that's easy, just grab him and go, do the first thing that springs into that super-charged brain of yours"

"OK but i don't have any good ideas, i mean compared to what we do most days, anything is sort of boring"

that made her laugh, movies about aliens can't quite compare to chasing them

"maybe that's exactly what you need, a little normal after a day chasing aliens might do you some good"

maybe she was right just doing normal stuff might be good

"OK thanks, Maria, i gotta go, say hi to your dad"

i logged off of video chat and went to find Marcus. i ran into him quite literally just outside his lecture, he crashed into me and we both fell to the floor

"oh Luke there you are, listen i think i found something worth investigating"

i pushed him off of me and got back to my feet

"i thought we agreed we weren't going to go looking for trouble"

my question dimmed his enthusiasm for about two seconds, before it bubbled back to the surface

"i know, i know, but listen, the focus of the lecture was on asteroids, and one of the examples caught my eyes, it fell to earth a little over a century ago"

i shrugged my shoulders, clearly he knew something i didn't

"OK but that's not all that uncommon, stuff does fall to earth all the time Marcus"

taking a quick look around to make sure we alone, he pulled out his scanner and showed me what had him so excited

"this is what makes it uncommon, i pulled up all data available at the time, with a little help from Mr Smith, it came down not too far from here, and it looks like it came from the sun" now he had my attention, what could have survived being that close to the sun. he closed his scanner and hid it in his pocket

"so what do you think Luke want to go take a look?"

it did sound quite interesting, and it wasn't that far out of our way

"alright come on then. I'll grab my keys and K-9 and meet you by my car"

he practically jumped into the air, it had been quiet for a while now, guess we were due an adventure. we loaded K-9 into my car, and set off in search of the crash site. the journey took about half an hour, he fell asleep on the way which suited me quite nicely, it was nice, just watching him sleep, all of the fears and worries that usually plagued him were gone and he looked quite peaceful, i couldn't see his eyes, but his hair had turned quite a natural brown colour, i think that might be what he looked like if he didn't have everyones emotions running through his head. he stirred a little before we arrived

"we're here already, great"

we both climbed out and helped K-9 out of the car, i took a moment to look around, whatever happened here a hundred years ago had long been forgotten, blocks of flats had been built over the impact site.

"OK then Marcus which way?"

he flipped open his scanner and turned in a circle

"follow me"

our search took us to the basement of one of the flats, i was worried the impact site might have been covered over, but as we walked into the centre of the room, Marcus's scanner flared into life

"hey that's weird, Luke, I'm getting life readings"

he had stopped in the centre of the basement floor

"do you think its something to do with the meteorite, could it have been a spaceship like Mara's?"

he shrugged his shoulder, it wasn't an impossible theory

"perhaps, but something is weird about these readings, look"

i took a quick look at the readings, the heartbeat was incredibly slow, it was hard to believe there was anything alive down there

"the readings seem to indicate some kind of hibernation"

he nodded his head in agreement

"yeah i can feel it down there, it feels like its asleep, almost like its dreaming"

i knew the building above us was built fairly recently, depending on the size of what was below us, they might have ended up building around it without even realising

"so something crashed to earth and has been hibernating all this time"

in answer to my question his scanner flared into life again

"whoa, you know what you were saying about hibernating, well i think it knows we are here, its heart rate is increasing"

the ground stirred and then the concrete basement floor started splitting under our feet, we all retreated to the far side of the room. a few seconds later, the cracks in the floor erupted with an explosion of earth. emerging from the ground, was about the size of a small horse but covered in thick black scales, it was crouched low on four legs and its tale slithered out behind it, helping the creature hold its balance, and as it moved closer a set of newly formed teeth glittered in the dull basement lights.

"Marcus, am i dreaming, or is there a dragon in the basement"

the creature was blinking in the dull light, it probably wasn't used to the light after being underground, after it got is bearings the creatures eyes focused on us and it hesitantly moved forwards. i thought about running away, but there was something about the way the creature moved, it didn't look like a confident predator, in fact it was acting a lot like i did, the first time i woke up. with a steady hand Marcus reached out to the dragon

"Luke i think that asteroid wasn't an asteroid, or a spaceship, i think it was an egg"

the dragon hatchling eyed us both nervously, i felt my fear replaced by sympathy, Marcus's idea made sense, if it fell to earth in its egg, it probably has no idea what's going on, Marcus edged forwards slowly but the dragon retreated in fear

"Marcus you said you can communicate with animals right, using emotions instead of words, try it now"

he shrugged his shoulders and reached out gently with his mind, i couldn't see any reaction from either of them at first, but slowly the hatchling moved forwards and let Marcus rest his open palm against its snout

"master Luke, i believe i know the creatures identity, it is known as a rishclaw by its native planet, fortunately my database indicates it is not carnivorous, it feeds on mineral rich rocks, dissolving them with powerful stomach acid, they are know throughout the galaxy because they can freely travel through space, often landing on different worlds to eat, before leaving again"

wow, a living creature that can travel freely through space

"oh no way, my mum told me stories about them, i thought they were legends"

Marcus let his excitement flow into my mind, it was infectious, even the hatchling was getting excited, its tail swished through the air like a dogs tail

"so it didn't come from inside the sun, its mother must have used the sun like an incubator, keeping its egg warm"

Marcus seemed to agree with me, but his face was creased into a frown

"i think you're right, but we have a problem, unless I've missed my guess, our baby rishclaw is very hungry"

the dragon had lost interest us and was nudging its way through all the earth on the floor

"K-9 said it ate mineral rich rocks right, a bit like crabs eat sand, I'm not sure where we could find anything suitable"

i highly doubted the thames river contained much in the way of nutritious rocks

"oh i got it, the geology department back at uni, they have loads of core samples there right, some of those should be suitable"

it sounded like a good idea, we just needed to sneak him passed the university security

"OK now we just need to convince the dragon to get into my car, something tells me it isn't going to like it"

i was right, it took us a long time to convince the dragon to get into my car it was already getting dark outside by the time we were ready to go, even with the back seats down the rishclaw barely fit, but once it noticed the great view out of the windshield, the hatchling seemed quite content. the drive back was quite eventful, at least two cars we drove passed almost crashed, we just hoped they didn't get a look at our passenger. we drove around to the back of the university and all got out of my car

* * *

Marcus's POV

"alright lets split up, i'll sneak in and open a window you take the rishclaw to the back of the building"

he nodded and we both ran our separate ways, the rishclaw seemed incredibly happy running around outside

i slowly edged my way along the back wall of the building, i don't know why i was bothering with sneaking, between K-9 and the rishclaw i had no chance of stealth. after a few minutes Luke appeared at one of the ground floor windows. he pulled me in through the window and the rishclaw poked his head through after us

"ok lets have a look around, i think they keep core samples over here"

after a few moments of hunting through the room we found several metallic cylinders, we picked out a few pieces of rock and turned to the rishclaw

"K-9 how does it actually eat these"

the rishclaw answered Luke's question for us, its tongue flicked out and pulled the piece of rock from my hand into its mouth

"Master Luke the creature will dissolve the rocks with its saliva until the rock is soft enough for its teeth, then chew and swallow it"

sure enough we saw a flash of white teeth as the rock crumbled and was swallowed. the rishclaws eyes quickly moved to the cylinders in our hands. smiling Luke held out the next rock and we both watched as it was swallowed. after about an hour of feeding it finally decided it was full

"well that's that, come on we should get out of here, it just ate its way through about five different pieces of geology coursework, if we get caught we will be in serious trouble"

it made me laugh that Luke was worried more about the missing assignments than the fact that campus security would find what looked like a dragon in the window

"OK come o..."

i was interrupted by a low bubbling sound coming from the rishclawsstomach, the next second a burst of fire erupted from the hatchlings mouth. me and Luke barely jumped out of the way in time, after the shock subsided i couldn't help but laugh, Luke was laughing as well from his hiding place behind the desks

"where did that come from?"

i had no idea

"master Luke, hydrogen is a bi-product of the rishclaws digestion of the rocks you fed it"

a massive bleeping sound blared through the building, we had triggered the fire alarm

"uh-oh come on we have to get out of here"

we both gently pushed the rishclaw backwards and climbed out of the window, running away from the building as quickly as we could. Luke and K-9 leading the way. once we had put some distance between us and the building we stopped, i checked my watch and saw that it was already gone midnight, no wonder i was feeling tired.

"are you alright you look really tired"

he was standing next to me his eyes were full of concern

"yeah I'm fine just more tired than..." oh of course "its not just me, I'm picking up on the rishclaw's tiredness as well, i was wondering why i felt this tired"

poor little hatchling he's just a baby, and its had a very exciting first day

"Master Luke, Marcus the rishclaws body temperature is lower than it should, the creature needs somewhere hot for it to sleep, before its temperature drops further"

guess sticking it in my room under an electric blanket is out of the question

"OK umm lets see, theres the boiler room in the basement of the student rooms, but i don't think we could sneak it across campus, umm we could try lighting a fire for it to sleep on, but that might draw a lot of attention, oh i got it, the gym"

i turned to Luke, the rishclaw needed sleep not a work out

"what are you thinking?"

"the gym has a steam room, we can crank it up full blast should be hot enough for the rishclaw"

it sounded like a good idea, the gym was on the edge of the campus, it would be pretty easy to sneak in

"alright sounds good lets go"

it took us about ten minutes to sneak across campus unseen, Luke's sonic pen managed to get us into the gym and disable any security camera, and with a little persuasion from me the rishclaw settled down into the steam room. i could sense it was warm and content. so i sat down just outside

"hey Marcus, do we have a plan for what to do with the rishclaw, we can't keep it hidden for long"

the no pets in dorms rule sprang to the front of my mind and i had to suppress the urge to giggle

"i know, I'm thinking once its warm and had a nap, we can find a decent hiding place then have Mr Smith contact the APL, there a group that help preserve rare alien life"

Luke looked impressed that i had actually come up with a plan, he settled down next to me and relaxed, curling his fingers around mine, after a couple of minutes of silence i felt something buzzing in Luke's mind, looking at him i could see on his face something was wrong

"are you alright Luke something is wrong i can see it on your face"

he turned his head so i could see him and gave me a faint smile, he always liked it when i could tell what he was thinking without my powers

"I'm OK, its just i was hoping to do something tonight, something simple like pizza or a movie, it seems silly but we've never really just gone out together, you know done something normal, like a proper date"

i gave his hand a gentle squeeze

"OK not quite the normal evening you had planned, but we have a few hours before the rishclaw wakes up, what do you want to do, we could just talk"

he seemed pleased with my suggestion moving closer i put my arm over him

"well you've told me loads about solaris, but what about people you knew, did you have any friends that you would hang out with before the war"

i thought back to my time on solaris

"yeah one she was called kiara, whenever i ran away from the palace i would find her and then we'd spend the rest of the time until i got caught doing anything we wanted, i lost track of her after the war started, i wish i had checked in on her before i ran away, she might have come with me if i asked" Luke smiled he knew what it was like having friends like that "OK Luke my turn, am i the first person you kissed"

i noticed a blush creep across his face

"no well sort of, you're the first person i kissed, but there was this girl, who i rescued from a game called combat 3000 she was grateful so she kissed me, i didn't really get why Maria and mum reacted the way they did, or how i was supposed to react, but Clyde explained it to me afterwards"

i could just imagine a young confused Luke and how he would react in that situation

"OK your turn again Luke"

i watched him think for a few seconds, until a flash of realisation hit him

"Marcus whats your last name?"

i looked at him for a few seconds, i couldn't believe we had gone all this time and i had never told Luke my full name

"i can't believe i never told you that, my full name is Marcus raylan-vensera"

it had been a while since i had used my full name

"raylan-vensera, is that your dads name, do you inherit it from your parents like on earth"

i loved the curious look on his face

"my mother took my fathers name, raylan, and the second part is the name of the city we lived in, Vensera"

content with questions for the minute we slipped back into an easy silence, i could sense the rishclaw just beyond the door it was still fast asleep, seeing the pool gave me an idea

"well to continue our normal evening slash morning out, fancy a dip in the pool"

he looked kinda surprised at the idea

"what are you serious?" i nodded and got up slipping my T-shirt over my head, the air was cool against my skin "but what if we get caught?"

i turned to him letting a mischievous smile cross my face

"come on Luke, you wanted to do something normal, sneaking in for a late night swim, sounds normal to me, besides trying not to get caught is half the fun, and if we do get caught we can just show them the rishclaw and they'll forget all about us"

i undid my belt and let my jeans pool around my ankles, stepping out of them i moved to the edge of the pool and dived in, i loved swimming it was one of my favorite things to do on earth, after the initial shock of the cool water i floated back to the surface and saw Luke waiting at the edge

"come on in the waters great"

he dropped his clothes on the ground next to mine and sat on the edge of the pool, he still looked nervous

"whats wrong Luke? you're not still worried about getting caught are you?"

he shook his head, there was definitely something on his mind

"no I'm not worried about that, promise you won't laugh"

"yeah i promise"

his eyes dropped to the pool

"i don't know how to swim, i never learnt"

oh that's what it is, i looked down where Luke's belly-button should have been, guess that would've been hard to explain. i pulled myself back out of the pool and sat beside him

"i guess things might have been tricky to explain, but that's no big deal, you're a fast learner, i can teach you now"

his eyes brightened at the idea and we both slipped back into the water, Luke kept his hand firmly on the edge at first, but eventually i pulled him away from the edge with me, after about ten minutes of splashing around Luke was swimming on his own. we lost track of time for a bit, eventually some of the tiredness of the day seeped in and we pulled ourselves out of the pool to dry off

"thanks Marcus, this was a lot of fun"

he had a big smile on his face

"you're welcome, but what happened when you landed in the ocean, when we met captain sparrow, i thought he said he fished you out"

he looked quite sheepish at that point

"yeah i got lucky, i sort of panicked, luckily the captain and his ship were already close by, they saw me flailing around"

i gave him a playful push, then yelped when i felt something poke me in the back

"relax Marcus, its just the rishclaw"

i turned around and sure enough the hatchling was behind us, apparently it felt left out of all the fun

"well since you're awake now, lets go find a decent hiding place for you"

it was refreshing not having to run away. we slipped quietly out of the gym and nobody was any the wiser. it took us a long time to find a decent hiding place the sun was just starting to rise, eventually we found the perfect place

"i can't believe i didn't think of this sooner, Mitch and Bev are out of town for a week, and they have a garage around here that Mitch rented to keep his car in"

Luke used his screwdriver and we let ourselves into the garage, it was a little cluttered but the rishclaw seemed quite happy, it ended up trying to eat the spare tire though

"there, right I've sent that message to Mr Smith he'll contact APL, they'll be here soon"

Luke gave me a tired nod of his head, we both sat down, with our backs against the garage door, i closed my eyes, and let myself fall asleep with Luke resting his head on my shoulder.

it must have been about midday when we both woke up, there was a strange bleeping noise it took me a second to figure out that it was Marcus's scanner

"oh Marcus wake up" he ignored me so i pulled his scanner out of his pocket" you've got a message from the APL they're, outside!, wow that was fast"

after convincing the rishclaw to wake up, i had to convince Marcus to wake up which was much harder, i opened the garage door and we met the members of the APL there were three of them, i couldn't help but notice they all had guns, i looked at Marcus he was suspicious too

"ah greetings gentleman, i am here to take the rishclaw off world"

the alien that spoke was all charm, but something made me distrust him, i think mum told me this was called trusting my instincts, so i decided to do what she would do

"that's an awful lot of guns for a harmless baby rishclaw"

his smile faltered for about two seconds and then his charm returned

"i know, but there is an awful lot of poachers that would quite happily kill for this little hatchling"

Marcus smiled and took over

"yeah i know, i heard you guys nearly lost an Arvon to a bunch of poachers

the alien stumbled for about a second

"but of course, luckily we were able to elude there attacks"

Marcus smiled wide, he had them

"really cause last time i checked Arvon was the name of my teddy bear, that i had on Solaris"

all the Poachers charm disappeared

"very clever boy"

he gave a signal and all of his men pointed their guns at us

"now the two of you back off and give me the rishclaw"

Marcus looked me in the eyes, and i gave a silent nod of approval

"wrong!, you're going to leave now!"

i took a step back from Marcus, i hate seeing him like this, his eyes were pitch black, all of the poachers stepped back in fear, except for their leader

"well, well ,well i heard rumours that their was a reneshan loose in the universe, who would have thought it was on earth"

at the poachers word all of the darkness in Marcus's eyes disappeared, replaced by fear, it was like all of the air had been knocked out of him, he stumbled and fell backwards, i didn't know what was wrong

"i don't know what you said to Marcus, but you still can't take the rishclaw"

i pointed my sonic pen at them, but they just laughed

"nice try human, now I'm a reasonable man, step aside, give me the rishclaw and we'll leave you alone no harm done"

i looked from Marcus to the rishclaw i have to do something, but i don't know what, the Poachers all moved forwards they were slowly surrounding us, but they were stopped in their tracks by an explosion high up in the sky

"what?, my ship"

the poacher turned on me, thinking i was responsible, he pulled his gun from its holster, before he could shoot me we were both knocked off our feet by an intense gust of wind, i caught a glimpse of wide wings and dark scales before i passed out. i was woken up by Marcus he was crouched over me his concern overshadowed by fear, he helped me sit up, i couldn't see the poachers, or the rishclaw

"what happened where is everyone?"

he gave me a small smile

"the poachers retreated to whats left of their ship, the rishclaw, got taken home, by its mother, or father, i couldn't really tell which, now come on we should get back"

he turned to walk home, i could always tell when he was trying to avoid something

"not so fast Marcus, what did he call you that made you react like that, I've never seen you so afraid"

he moved back and forth for a few seconds everything about his body language told me he was agitated

"I've made a mistake Luke"

he gently reached out with his mind, leading me deep into his subconscious, i found something there it was dark and seeping out into different parts of his mind, it was like a tumour, and it terrified me, he led me back out of his mind and I found myself back on the street

"Marcus what have you done?"

* * *

first chapter of a new story possibly the last story, i suspect there are some questions about the mystery man introduced in the last story don't worry he hasn't been forgotten, he will appear in the next chapter, as always reviews are appreciated

hint for next chapter: god i love messing with alternate realities


	2. nels last wish

yay next chapter, as per usual i don't own SJA, this chapter was a pain to write, i liked the idea just had a lot of trouble writing it so any suggestions for improvement would be appreciated, anyway please enjoy

* * *

Marcus's POV

"marcus what have you done"

lukes words had been echoing through my mind all night, i had explained what had happened between me and the game master

"it was my fault, i had defeated her, the teleport relays were open, but i wouldn't let it go, i was so angry, i teleported more aliens in, victims of the game master,  
i didn't kill her with my own hands, but i chose revenge, and now i'm paying for it"

he wasn't sure what to say to me, i new i deserved what is happening to me, and i'm not sure Luke could find a reason to disagree

"this darkness is gonna keep spreading, every time i give into the feelings that made it, until it consumes me, when that happens i won't be me anymore, I'll be a monster"

the last reneshan had terrorised my world for years, killing indiscriminantly before he had finally been stopped, i wasn't that far gone yet at least but i had to be careful

"unless you're about ten seconds away from losing you're mind, i can't deal with this now, I'm going back to my room, i need time to think, I'll see you tomorrow"

he had left without another word

i came back to my room and collapsed onto my bed, hoping more than anything that a good nights sleep might make this situation better. the next morning i woke up to a deep red glow coming in through my window. i got out of bed and pulled my curtains open all the way, my stomach dropped at the sight before me. the entire campus was destroyed dull fires still burned in the carcasses of the buildings casting a disturbing red glow over everything

"what the hell happened here"

i pulled my phone out of my pocket, no signal perfect, i decided it would be best to go outside and try and figure out exactly what was going on. outside the damage looked just as bad if not worse, in my mind i couldn't feel anything no life, no living creatures to be sensed for miles around.

"alright, this is insane, i need help, Mr Smith"

Sarah-Jane's supercomputer was my best shot at getting help, the attic was also my best chance of finding Luke, if he wasn't here that would be the next best place to try and find him. i decided my best bet would walking, i still hadn't learnt how to drive and i doubt i could get a car started without the keys anyway. i started walking i knew this was gonna take me a long time, but i needed time to think, i lost track of time, my watch kept ticking over, 1, 2, 3 hours passed, i thought all this time that i was alone on the earth, but then i could sense something sadness despair. following what i could sense i came to a small burnt out building

"hello, is anyone there, its OK i won't hurt you"

i heard something stir in the building something moved outwards towards me

"my names Marcus"

the figure moved out into the light, what looked like a human moved forwards on mismatched human and mechanical feet

"oh my god, what are you"

i finally got a good look at the creature it looked like a human but parts of it had been replaced by cybernetics, the human side of its face was blank expressionless.  
before i could react it leaped forwards and had me pinned to the ground, despite its aggression i could still feel its sadness like it was weeping

"please let go"

i could barely breathe, before i could break free the machine gripped its head screaming in pain. i crawled backwards out of reach, the sadness in its mind had grown to a scream of pain. the creature dropped to the ground motionless, only then could i see the person responsible, he lowered his hand and walked off

"hey wait"

i got up to ran after him he was making his way quickly through the wreckage

"will you slow down for a second?"

he turned on me in an instant

"if i slow down and we get caught out in the open in the night we die so speed up"

he started walking again i gave up for a minute and just focused on following him, ignoring my protesting feet, after almost and hour of walking i felt something buzzing in my mind i could sense people and their emotions, for the first time since waking up today, i smiled. the place we came to was underground it was likely a big interconnected series of basements and train tunnels, despite the dark conditions i could sense a buzz of hope from everyone present. my guide spoke to a few people as we went

"you, come with me"

i followed him into a sealed off part of this little complex, once the door was closed behind us he slammed me against the wall, and for the second time today i couldn't breathe

"i don't know who you are, shapeshifter, or using an image translator, it doesn't matter drop that form or i will kill you"

he leaned back just enough so i had the air to speak

"this is what i look like, I'm not in disguise or whatever you think, My names Marcus"

i was hoping to make him understand, but my words just made him angry

"Liar!"

i was thrown to the floor, a weapon leveled at my head

"I'm not lying, my name is Marcus Raylan-Vensera I'm from Solaris, and my best friend is...my best friend is probably dead"

the stranger put down his weapon, all of his anger faded away

"I was more than you're best friend Marcus"

i stared in shock as the stranger unwound the scarf that protected his face, it was Luke, but not the Luke i remember

"oh my god, Luke it's you"

he looked tired and older than he should, that bright spark that i could usually see in his eyes was gone, he was older his features were worn and he had a scar across his cheek

"it is me, but the real question is, how are you here, Marcus you died"

no wonder he thought i was an impostor

"a lot of stuff doesn't make sense, that included, Luke you gotta help me make sense of all this, i mean i know we joked that i could sleep through the end of the world,  
but this, this is just mad"

the earth reduced to this in one night, even the Daleks couldn't manage that

"Marcus, the earth has been like this for two years now"

now i know somethings wrong

"alright, start from the beginning, two years ago, before everything got all crazy"

the look on his face told me he didn't want to dredge up old memories, but i had to figure out whats going on

"it was our fault, we met a creature called a N.E.L their name is actually an acronym, it stands for near eternal lifeforms, the one we met was called gamma, we tried to help him escape from an alien called Krozan, and for a while we succeeded, but Krozan caught up to gamma after he left earth, and caused all this"

i'd never heard of N. even in legends, although something about the name Krozan rang a bell

"how did Krozan cause this thought, and what did he want with gamma"

"the N. are special, as their name suggests they're almost eternal, sentient beings of energy, they can move between time as they choose, but they have another power, if they die all the energy that they are made of is released, and they can grant a person one wish, one thing to be changed throughout time and space, no matter how big or small, the timelords were so afraid of this power being misused that they created a sanctuary for the N., but not all of the N. made it inside the sanctuary before it was sealed, gamma included"

i think i get where this is going

"so Krozan caught up to Gamma, killed him and used the wish for himself"

Luke nodded his agreement

"he wished for power, anyone that could stop him he wished to be wiped from the universe, and then, anyone he considered a threat was destroyed for good measure, mum Clyde and Rani were all in the attic when it exploded, you could sense something was wrong, you came to my room and gave me an emergency teleport you'd been building and telported me outside, right before my room and the entire building was obliterated, now its only me, and any survivors i can find"

it was hard to hear, his family was gone, earth was destroyed, and anyone who might have been strong enough to stop krozan was wiped from existence

"what about that thing that attacked me, what was it"

a look of disgust crossed Luke's face

"the military were desperate, fighting a losing battle, they turned to the cybermen and all that remained from the battle of canary wharf, humanity had the advantage of numbers, they thought if everyone on earth became a soldier they could win, but something went wrong, the cybermen they created were mad, they went berserk, instead of a weapon, they created a plague, now anyone unlucky enough to be caught is mixed and matched with whatever mechanical parts are available"

that creature, that human was sad in despair

"that explains everything except me, how the heck did i end up here"

Luke shrugged his shoulders, he had no idea either

"well i have no idea what you're doing here, but since you're here, i could do with some help, follow me"

he lead me through more of the tunnels right into the centre of the base, in front of me was a sprawling mass of wires and machinery

"Luke what the heck is this"

there was a small glimmer of pride on his face

"this Marcus, is hope" stepping forwards he kicked a switch and the whole thing whirred into life "its a teleport relay, I've been working on it ever since...and its nearly ready"

the machine wasn't just a machine, it was the entire room, everything even the walls were part of it

"whats it for?"

he worked his way around the consoles checking readings while he spoke

"safety, the cyberman that attacked you is one of many, there is an entire horde of them, this will allow us to always be one step ahead, the horde will never be able to catch us, we'll be safe"

same old Luke, even now he had a spark of hope, and he was doing everything to keep people alive

"so what do you need my help for"

a frown creased his face

"i have all the hardware in place, but the targeting matrix is all wrong, and I'm running out of time, the horde has caught our scent, if i don't get this machine working soon they will kill everyone here, or worse"

i walked behind him and had a look at the readings

"this is crazy-complicated Luke i can't even figure out half of this stuff, but" i picked my scanner out of my pocket "i have this, complete with a homing beacon designed to triangulate my position, anywhere in space"

Luke smiled, probably for the first time in a long time, he quickly got to work picking apart all the components he needed, installing them all over the machine

"alright Marcus, time for a test"

he flicked open the screen

"power on full, targeting matrices aligning and, lock on"

a map popped up showing us a position somewhere on earth

"its working, this will be up at full power in about an hour, come on, we have to get everyone inside"

we walked through the base giving everyone the news, it was incredible, hope was shining in everyone eyes

"Luke, Luke" we turned around to see a young man running towards us, he had a deep gash across his eye "the horde is close, we have about ten minutes before they get here"

Luke's expression was grim

"alright calm down, get everyone inside the relay, double time, I'll hold them back buy you enough time for the telport to be fully charged"

Luke grabbed his weapons and marched off towards the exits

"Luke wait, you can't be serious, those things outside will rip you to shreds"

he turned to me all hope gone from his eyes

"someone has to, now you need to get inside the relay too, keep them safe"

without a second look he disappeared out through the doors, up to the surface

"Luke left you in charge, what should we do"

the young man had turned to me, looking at everyone gathered

"OK all of you listen up, there isn't much time"

i explained to everyone who could understand how to operate the relay before picking up some spare weapons

"Okay, make sure you remember all this cause i'm not coming with you"

i received a few grim nods, then turned and ran after Luke. i wasn't sure which way he had run off to, i turned in circles trying to catch sight of him. i saw him fighting on the top of a burnt building, surrounded by cybermen. i ran towards him, weaving between the battered cars and broken lamppost's, before i could reach him i felt pain wrack through my body, it felt like my shoulder had been torn open. i looked up to see Luke crouched in pain clutching at his shoulder. everything else happened in slow motion one of the cybermen raised its arm, Luke turned to look me right in the eyes, before closing off his mind, the hand came down, and the world dissolved around me

"what the hell"

i was on the floor, and there was a roof over my head, slowly picking myself up off the ground i looked around and came face to face with a strange creature it was a pulsing cloud of energy

"gamma!"

the last couple of days flooded back into my mind, gamma's arrival, the machine he asked us to build, his warning about Krozan

"i apologise Marcus, but it was necessary"

i couldn't sense any emotions from gamma, he just floated there

"necessary! what the hell was that!"

a face appeared in the cloud

"that was the future that will be if you don't help me with my plan"

"what plan, what do you want from me"

the face showed a sad expression

"i want you to help me die"

i felt the pit of my stomach drop

"but why show me that?"

a flicker of sympathy passed across gamma's face

"because i needed to show you what would happen if you refused, you have already refused me twice, i needed you to understand why this was necessary"

he was right memories popped into my mind, gamma had asked this from me twice, i didn't want to do it i was worried it would just accelerate what was happening to me

"gamma, please i can't do this, you know what's happening to me"

his sympathy returned

"acts of revenge feed the darkness inside you, this is an act of mercy that will save everyone you care about, now please with a few additions to the machine you have been building it will be able to kill me"

i wasn't sure what to do, i worked around the sonic array we had been building making the changes gamma asked for eventually it was ready

"gamma this is crazy, i can't do this, i just can't"

he observed me with his unwavering gaze, sympathy clouding his expression

"you must, you've seen the future that will unfold if you don't make this decision"

* * *

Lukes POV

most of the traps i had made had been triggered, Krozan had been slowed down, but not by much

"OK K-9 are you ready"

"affirmative master Luke"

one of Krozans soldiers ran around the corner, K-9's laser flashed and the soldier dropped, but more came

"keep it up K-9"

one of the soldiers made it passed K-9, i grabbed the nearest weapon i could find, a piece of pipe, and knocked the soldier in the stomach, he staggered but didn't go down, he knocked me to the ground and pointed his gun at me

"master Luke"

before K-9 could interfere a laser blast struck the soldier and he fell down. i looked to see who it was that fired, i saw someone, hidden in the shadow, nodding his head the stranger turned and ran

"I'm fine K-9 come on, lets get inside"

* * *

Marcus's POV

Luke came crashing through the doors sealing them behind him

"Marcus we haven't got long, we have to get gamma away from the earth now" he looked from gamma to me and then at the re purposed sonic array "whats going on?"

gamma's gaze switched to him

"Luke, my life must end here today, Marcus has already seen what will happen if it doesn't"

Luke looked at me but i couldn't hold his gaze, i could still see the man he would become if i didn't do this

"okay gamma, I'll do it"

i stepped up to the controls and placed my hands on the switch, my fingers were trembling, i felt like crying

"please Marcus i don't want my power to be the cause of the evil you saw"

i felt my grip loosen on the switch, i can't do this, before i could hesitate anymore i felt Luke's hands rest on top of mine

"come on, i don't like this either, but its gamma's decision not ours"

i took a breath and steadied my hands, and pushed the switch. the sonic emitters triggered, when the noise died down gamma's form had faded leaving a faint light in his place

"one wish children it is yours"

i had forgotten about the wish, i turned to Luke, by the look on his face he knew what to do

"gamma, you know what's happening to Marcus right, can you reverse it?"

i could feel it growing in the back of my mind seeping into all parts of my mind, i had to hope gamma could reverse my mistake

"it is within my power children, but also within yours, if this wish is your desire then i will grant it, but i suggest you do not squander this opportunity"

i looked at Luke, maybe gamma was right, if anyone can help me, he could, and i have another idea for the wish

"gamma, what would you wish for?"

gamma looked surprised by my question, but his surprise was quickly replaced by gratitude

"i would wish that all of my people were safe, within the timelord sanctuary"

Luke looked at me and i nodded my agreement

"gamma, we wish for all the other N. to be transported to the timelord sanctuary, so that krozan can never get near them again"

he smiled one last time, and then a blast of light radiated outwards from the point where gamma had been. we waited for the light to fade, once it had we made our escape before krozan could find us. the escape was a little bit touch and go, but thanks to the timely arrival of UNIT we made it back to the university. i sat myself down in Luke's room, everything that happened today playing through my mind. I could feel Luke looking at me, his curiosity bubbling just below the surface

"is gamma right can we save you from becoming a reneshan on our own?"

all the stories i had been told i had never heard of anyone coming back from becoming a reneshan

"i don't know, but gamma seemed to think so, maybe we can"

he gave me an understanding smile

"yeah you're right, and thanks to you all of gamma's people are safe now inside the sanctuary"

he slipped his fingers between mine and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek

"thanks Luke, i just hope we don't regret it"

he gave my hand a comforting squeeze

"if you're feeling better i have something to talk to you about" i turned to him, what else happened today "someone helped me while i was trying to slow krozan down i didn't get a look at him, but it was weird he seemed kind of familiar"

someone else that knew about aliens

"do you think it was someone we know"

his face scrunched up in confusion

"i don't think so, still I'm lucky, he saved my life out there"

well we have a friendly mystery man at least

"whoever it is I'm sure he'll introduce himself eventually"

he smiled, and settled down next to me

"well, I'm going to sleep, we can figure out the mystery mans identity in the morning"

i wriggled a bit until i was comfy and then closed my eyes, letting the noise of Luke's gentle breathing help me fall asleep

* * *

ah gave them a way to save Marcus and wouldn't let them take it, i must be in a bad mood when i wrote this part, still i hope you guys enjoyed it, thanks to TKLee and DannyP

hint for next chapter: time of honour and justice


	3. hitch hikers guide to the subconcious

this chapter is finally in a state where i feel happy showing it, major pain in the ass to write, ended up being completely changed which means, my hint from the last chapter was misleading, i'm sorry, anyway i don't own SJA, please enjoy, i apologise for any spelling mistakes every time i tried to run spell check it went kaboom, well not exactly, but still no spell check so any spelling mistakes i apologise for, whoa just noticed a whole lot of apologies i'm gonna stop typing now

* * *

Marcus's POV

i woke up i could feel lukes arm across my chest, it was warm and comfortable, for a second everything seemed peaceful until the events of the last night came back, Luke had attempted to remove the darkness in me, he could force it to the back of my mind but it was just too much for him to do alone, after he almost passed out after his third attempt i called it a night, i felt him stir next to me

"morning sleepy head"

he smiled at me when i ran my hand through his hair

"morning"

i wriggled out from underneath him and pulled my shirt on

"are you alright luke"

his smile faded

"yeah i'm ok...listen Marcus, i've been thinking, i can't help you alone, i think we need my mums help"

he looked worried by that plan

"i think you're right Luke, i don't want you to get hurt trying to do this on your own"

he gave me a small smile

"i'll ring her"

i nodded my agreement

"alright luke, why don't you go back to sleep for a bit, i'll bring you back some breakfast"

he closed his eyes and i left the room. i walked across the street to a small restaurant me and luke visited quite frequently inside i saw a guy who seemed to have gone completely mad

"oh Marcus is this one of your friends, must be drunk or something, won't stop eating, hasn't paid for anything either"

grabbing hold of the crazed man i tried to lead him out of the shop, before we could get very far his face contorted and a strange light shot out of his body escaping the shop

"Marcus what in the heck was that"

i wasn't entirely certain, the guy in my arms passed out

"i'm not sure, here this should cover everyting he's eaten, when he wakes up give him some coffee and then send him home, thanks"

handing over most of the contents of my wallet i left the shop, i knew that light it wasn't dangerous enough to wake luke up for, hearing a bunch of screaming down the street i ran off

* * *

Luke's POV

it must have been about an hour after Marcus left, i was still tired but i couldn't hide in bed all day, i knew i would need mums help to save him, i scrolled through the contacts on my phone, i paused at mums number before noticing a different contact, the doctor had given me a number to use to contact him

"oh umm hi this is Rory"

i had been expecting the doctor, but at least i had reached the tardis

"hi Rory its Luke, i was hoping to talk to the doctor"

"oh sorry amy roped the doctor into skiing down the side of a planet with her, is it an emergency"

i decided against asking how they could be skiing down a planet

"no its not an emergency, i just, i was hoping to talk to him, i just needed some advice"

i was hoping to talk to the doctor, i knew if anyone could understand he would

"well unless you need advice on aliens or saving the universe maybe i could help, what did you need to talk about"

i didn't really know rory all that well, but he might be able to help

"yeah thanks...Ok you remember my friend Marcus, he made a mistake, during one of our fights, and now, now he's suffering for it"

i heard Rory pause trying to find the right thing to say

"what sort of mistake did he make Luke"

i was worried he would ask that

"he killed someone, not with his own hands, but he did it, and now he's going to lose himself in what he did"

another pause from Rory

"OK, you said he's losing himself, is that literal, something to do with his alien empath thing"

i was expecting more of a reaction, i was glad he didn't start shouting

"yes, his mind is going to disappear, whats left will be a killer, a monster"

i don't want to imagine what he will be like

"OK, can you help him, stop it from happening"

i took a deep breath before continuing

"i think so, we met an alien who told us it was possible, but its just...i'm scared"

what i saw in his mind was terrifying

"if you're scared luke then don't do it alone, ask your mum for help and your friends"

"i'll have to, but rory if i do that i'll have to tell them what he did, i'm not sure how my mum would react"

she might send him away from earth, i'm not sure i could handle that

"well luke, what Marcus did, it has consequences, and sooner or later he'll have to face them, either losing his mind or your mum finding out what he did"

he was right

"i can't lose him, i won't let him become a reneshan"

"then i think you know what you need to do Luke, shall i tell the doctor to talk to you when he gets back"

"no thats alright, and thanks for your advice Rory"

i hung up the phone before dialling in a new number

"mum, i need you clyde and Rani to come to oxford, i need your help"

she listened to me without intterupting as i explained everything

"alright Luke we'll be there as quickly as we can"

she hung up and i just sat there for a moment, dialing one more number

"Marcus where are you?"

i could hear a lot of noise on the other side of the phone

"i'm in the shopping center, and if you're feeling better i could use a hand"

"yeah OK i'll be there soon"

hanging up i quickly grabbed my keys and left the room, the drive to the shopping center only took about ten minutes, once inside i looked around for marcus. i ended up hearing him before i saw him, following the sound up to the top level i found Marcus trying to restrain a man who was running around the restaurants trying to eat as much food as he could

"oh don't worry ladies and gentleman, just my uncle, umm he hasn't had his medication today, don't worry"

ignoring Marcus's poor excuses i helped him grab the man and lead him out of the restaurant

"Marcus what's going on"

the man in question was licking his fingers and his lips trying to savour all the different flavours

"this poor guy picked up a psychic hitch hiker, its in his head right now experiencing everything this guys is, he lowered the poor blokes inhibitions, so he does anything and everything that comes to mind, sorry i probably should have brought you in sooner, but you look liked you needed some thinking time this morning"

i gave Marcus's shoulder a gentle squeeze

"thanks, now how do we help this guy"

the host had licked his fingers clean and was getting restless

"this psychic pain in the ass has been jumping bodies all day, he must be tired, i'm thinking he's in a talking mood now"

nodding my agreement we turned to the host

"sorry this isn't going to make much sense, we know you're in there, leave this guy and then leave the earth, no harm no foul OK, else this is going to get serious"

the man looked at us confused, before his face contorted

"sorry but i'm enjoying this world too much"

before we could stop him a streak of light left the host

"damn it, alright keep an eye on it..."

before he could finish the light struck him and knocked him against the far wall

"Marcus you alright" we didn't need this right now "Marcus can you hear me"

he pulled himself up

"oh this one should be fun an empath, not just his experiences but the experiences of everyone around his delic..."

before the hitch hiker could continue Marcus clutched his head screaming in pain

"Marcus whats wrong?" keeping his eyes sealed shut, they opened slowly, and my heart stopped "NO!"

before i could react he slammed me agaisnt the wall, and my vision faded, when i opened my eyes again my mum was shaking me awake

"luke are you alright"

i nodded in answer and let Clyde pull me up

"mum, he's gone, i'm not sure what to do"

i was almost in tears, i felt so helpless

"Luke calm down, tell me what happened, who knocked you out"

taking a breath i explained

"that stupid hitch hiker, he let down Marcus's inhibitions, too far now the darkness in Marcus is in control, if we don't find him soon he'll kill someone"

i knew the second i saw the darkness in Marcus's eyes

"OK then our first priority is to capture Marcus, after that we can decide what to do"

we split up Clyde came with me and Rani went with Mum, we checked with the shopping centers security they told us which exit Marcus went through, me and clyde were going to push Marcus towards mum and Rani

"luke mate, i've been thinking, what are you gonna do if we can't help Marcus"

i tried to ignore Clyde as we ran, but he had a point

"i don't know Clyde, cry scream at the sky, invent a time machine and go back and undo all this mess, something"

he took my answer with silence and we kept running until we heard a scream

"this way"

we found Marcus in an alley, some poor woman cornered, the dark in Marcus's eyes was radiating out from his body

"leave her alone!"

Clyde ran forwards and tackled Marcus to the ground i lead the woman out of the alley just in time to watch clyde get thrown aside

"Marcus wait, please!" he turned and in an instant i was pinned in place a hand at my throat "come on you're not gone yet, just let me help you"

i could see him hesitating, the aliens influence was fighting against his willpower, he reached out his other hand, but was knocked flat by Clyde, a second later Mum and Rani ran up helping Clyde to pin him down

"Luke use this"

i took the device in question and pressed it against his skin, his attempts to break free stopped and he fell asleep

"well done everyone"

mum checked the bruise clyde had, making sure we were all alright

"OK mum i think we can help him, but i'm going to need you, all of you"

she turned to me, a deadly serious look on her face

"Luke i know what you want us to do, you explained on the phone, but...i'm just not sure this is safe, Marcus is out of control, and there's an alien influencing him as well, his mind is dangerous right now, too dangerous for the four of us"

i can't believe what she's saying

"NO!, mum you can't be serious, we need to help him"

clyde and rani were silent beside her

"i'm sorry luke, but i will not risk the three of you, Marcus made a choice and i will not let it hurt the three of you"

i looked at them

"please mum, i can't lose him, he's important to me, just like you three, and i know if it was any of you, we wouldn't hesitate"

Rani stepped forwards followed by Clyde, mum frowned at all of us before stepping forwards

"alright Luke we'll help, what do you need us to do"

i knelt down gently and placed my fingers on Marcus's temples just like i had seen him do

"i'm not sure what will happen next, just be ready"

i reached out genlty, i could feel Marcus's mind buzzing close so i pushed towards it, before i knew what was happening he reached out and dragged us into his mind, me rani clyde and mum

* * *

cliffhanger, this chapter ended up a lot shorter than most, but if i combined it with the next chapter it was a bit too much to digest for one chapter, anyway i hope you enjoyed

hint for next chapter: what are you doing in here?


	4. something i need to tell you

yay next chapter, this one was a lot easier to write than the last so i hope it reads that way too. as usual i don't own SJA or DW, please enjoy

* * *

Rani opened her eyes to a dazzingly bright light, she was in an open street that was mostly empty, after a while she noticed a fight in the street, one boy surrounded by a bunch of kids, it looked like they were all kicking him

"hey you lot leave him alone"

the kids scattered and she helped the young boy on the ground sit up, he couldn't have been any older than 8 years old

"my names Rani are you alright?"

the boy had a few cuts and bruises but nothing serious

"yeah i'm fine, those guys are jerks"

rani sat on the ground next to the boy

"so what was all that about, why were they picking on you"

she thought he was going to ignore her for a second

"they don't like playing with me because my dad is the king, they either act weird around me or call me a stuck up prince and beat me up"

Rani realised who the boy was, it was Marcus, just a younger version of him

"i know how you feel, i remember when i was little kids didn't like playing with me because my dad was the headteacher, it was hard"

Marcus looked at her sympathetically

"you don't look like a kid anymore, did you ever end up with friends"

Rani thought of Clyde and Luke

"yeah i did, it took me while, but eventually you'll find really good friends, and they won't care who your parents are they'll just care who you are"

he smiled at the thought

"wanna come to the Market with me, we can try some wacca beans"

Rani didn't have the first clue what wacca beans were but she decided to go anyway

"yeah sure"

they both walked for a few mintues after a while they caught sight of the same kids from earlier picking on a girl with a basket of food, before Rani could interfere Marcus ran forwards and tried to push the kids away

"leave her alone"

Marcus's attempts to help ended up with him being kicked on the ground again, before rani could help the girl with the basket, knocked the bullies flat and rescued Marcus

"well thanks for the rescue attempt kid, man you're hopeless though, if we're gonna be friends i'm gonna have to teach you how to fight"

Marcus took her hand and let her help him up

"i'm not a kid, wait did you say friend"

she smiled

"yeah, those idiots are always bothering me, but you're the first person to try and help, that makes you alright"

Marcus blushed a little, and Rani couldn't help but smile

"i'm Kiara by the way, whats your name"

"oh i'm Marcus"

taking his hand kiara lead Marcus away down the street, Rani watched with a smile, and eventually the scene faded around her, when she opened her eyes she was back outside, Sarah-Jane and the others were just standing there, like they were in a trance

"guess the others will wake up too"

sarah-jane found herself in a darkened room surrounded by solemn looking people, although looking closer the people were all barely shadows, one figure stood out he was the only person she could see clearly, he looked to be about 12 years old and trying his best not to cry, the focus of everyones attention was a casket in the center of the room, putting the pieces together Sarah-Jane realised where she was, the funeral of Marcus's mother, stepping forwards to the center of the room she laid her hand gently on young Marcus's shoulder.

"are you alright?"

the boy was much younger but definitely still the same Marcus

"of course i'm not alright!"

there was a lot of anger in his voice

"sorry stupid question"

they stood there in silence for a few moments

"who are you and what are you doing here anyway?"

Sarah-Jane was wondering that herself, she must be inside Marcus's memories

"my name is Sarah-Jane, and i think i'm here to help"

luke had said he wasn't sure what to expect

"nobody can help they're all so stupid, they say i'm sorry for your loss but they don't understand, none of them do"

Sarah-jane looked at the shadows around her, clearly Marcus didn't think all these people were worth remembering, the only thing in focus was the casket

"no they can't understand, they haven't gone through something like this, but i have, and i do understand"

Marcus's attention switched to Sarah-Jane, he eyed her suspiciously

"you lost your mum as well?"

his tone changed to one of sympathy

"yes and my dad, but i think it was harder for you, i never had a chance to know my parents, i was barely a baby when they died"

he nodded his head in understanding

"what happened to them?"

Sarah-Jane thought back to when she was a little girl, when her aunt explained what happened

"they died in a car crash"

Marcus placed his hand on top of Sarah-Janes

"sorry, mum died when the palace was attacked the ceiling fell..."

he couldn't continue, Sarah-Jane could see tears forming in his eyes

"Marcus its alright to cry"

he shook his head stubbornly

"dad says crying is a sign of weakness, and that a prince shouldn't be weak"

Sarah-Jane felt quite grateful that Marcus's father wasn't in this memory, shouting at him at his wifes funeral wouldn't be right

"well he's wrong Marcus, and i think i know a bit more about why i'm here, i'm here to help you understand"

Marcus turned to her, confusion overshadowing the sadness on his face

"what do you mean?"

she smiled and knelt down so she could look him in the eye

"i'm here to help you understand that its ok to cry, and i'm here to help you to understand that even though your sad now it will get easier, and i'm here to help you understand that its ok to be angry"

his eyes widened in surprised when she said that

"no i shouldn't be angry, its not her fault, she didn't mean to go away"

tears were streaming down his face

"i know, you don't want to, but she would understand, you're allowed to be angry, and i can promise that after a while your anger will fade, and then you'll be able to remember all the happy times you had together"

Marcus put his arms around Sarah-Jane, Sarah-jane found something in her hand a rose

"here you go, now go on say goodbye"

nodding his head he took the flower

"she always loved alien flowers, thank you Sarah-Jane"

Sarah-Jane smiled and the memory faded around her, when she opened her eyes she was back outside in the street, Clyde and Luke were still in the same trance state she must have been in

"Sarah-Jane are you alright"

Rani was awake and staring at the boys

"yes i'm fine, were you inside a memory as well"

Rani nodded her head and they both went back to looking at Luke and Clyde

"be careful both of you, and hurry the sedative is wearing off"

Clyde found himself awake and in a huge room, it was massive and at the far end clyde could see what looked like a throne, with a man sat on it and a boy standing in his way

"please father listen i know you're angry, but you have to stop this if we go to war the whole plaent could be ripped apart"

a flash of realisation hit clyde, this must be Marcus, only he was younger in his teens at clydes guess

"silence Marcus! you're speaking of things you do not understand"

Clyde could remember Marcus talking about the war on his world, his fathers anger was to blame

"no you're being an idiot, you just have to sto..."

whatever else Marcus had to stay was lost as his father smacked him across the face and knocked him to the ground

"leave my sight now boy, and don't return until you have remembered your place"

Marcus practically ran from the room and clyde followed him

"why are you following me?"

Marcus had noticed clyde and was eyeing him suspiciously

"i'm not entirely sure, are you alright though, i mean what was going on in there"

Clyde could still see the bruise across Marcus's face

"nothing much, my dad just has anger issues"

Marcus was trying to brush it off as nothing, but clyde could see his hair changing colours to a deep sad blue

"listen mate, i know you don't know me all that well, but i know a little something about what you're going through, and that guy in there he isn't your dad"

Marcus ignored him and tried to leave

"i don't know who you are but get out of here"

Clyde ran forwards and grabbed him

"ok i know that didn't make much sense but listen, in my opinion dads only get the right to call themselves dads when they start acting the part, i know neither of our dads were exactly perfect, and i know they'll always love us, but that doesn't mean you have to put up with what he did in there"

Marcus looked at him for a second before the blue in his hair faded

"maybe you're right, i've been trying to ignore it, saying he's just upset because of what happened to mum, but maybe i need to remind him, thanks, umm what was your name"

Clyde smiled and let go of Marcus

"oh my names Clyde"

"thank you Clyde"

Marcus turned to go back to the throne room and the memory faded around Clyde, when he woke up he was back in the street with Rani and Sarah-Jane

"hey guys what the heck was that in there"

Clyde figured it was Marcus's head but beyond that

"i'm not sure clyde, i think the memories we experienced were part of the anger in Marcus, and we had to help him let go of it"

nodding his head Clyde looked at luke

"guess its up to lukey-boy now"

luke found himself in a darkened corridor, he didn't recognise the place but form the metallic walls he guessed some kind of spacestation, after looking around he decided to get moving, he knew he was in Marcus's mind but beyond that he didn't know what to do

"Marcus are you here"

after he got no response he deicded to keep walking, the corridor seemed endless, and considering it was in Marcus's mind it probably could be endless, after what felt like an hour of walking Luke could hear a low rumbling noise

"is anyone there"

before he could react luke was pinned against the metallic walls by a monster, it was seething with darkness

"why did you let me in here, this is your fault"

Luke realised it must be the hitch hiker, it must have been affected by the darkness in Marcus's mind

"let go of him"

Luke could barely see who the voice belonged to, the monster was knocked down the corridor, and a tall figure stood between them

"hey listen Marcus is at the end of the corridor, Rani, Clyde and Sarah-Jane have all done what they needed to, now you have to finish this"

the monster was back on his feet and charging, it raised on massive fist and swiped down, the stranger caught the fist effortlessly

"and remember, in here strength of mind is whats important, now get going, i'll deal with this"

Luke did as he was told and took off down the corridor, when he reached the end of the corridor, he found himself in a room with Marcus, watching over one final memory,  
the final moments of the game master

"hey Luke, figured it would be you that found me here"

Luke looked around he could see the aliens Marcus teleported into the room, so thats what happened

"Marcus, i'm here to help, so are mum, clyde and rani"

Marcus let out a depressed sigh

"whats the point Luke i'm not sure i even deserve saving, i mean look at what i did"

he gestured to the room in front of them

"Marcus thats not true"

Luke tried to get Marcus to look at him

"yes it is Luke, i killed her, i deserve to suffer here"

luke grabbed him by the shoulders forcing Marcus to look at him

"no you don't! if you did then you wouldn't have friends like me, Clyde, Rani and my mum who risked their lives to try and rescue you"

Luke didn't let go, but Marcus turned to face the memory again

"Luke you should go, if you don't go soon you won't be able to leave"

placing his hand either side of Marcus's face Luke turned his head so they were eye to eye

"not a chance, i think i know why i'm here, i have to help you do the hardest thing of all"

Marcus didn't try and resist lukes grip, but his eyes were looking at the floor

"whats that luke"

tilting Marcus's chin he brought their lips together gently

"i'm here to help you forgive yourself"

faltering for a second Marcus started smiling

"are you sure i deserve that Luke"

rolling his eyes at his friend Luke started smiling

"yes, everyone makes mistakes, a sure sign you deserve saving is when your friends come to help you"

they both smiled and Marcus Brought their lips together again

"come on lets get out of here then"

they both turned to leave, when a cold voice stopped them in their tracks

"oh i don't think so, he doesn't deserve forgiveness. and he's never going to leave"

they turned to see the game master was out of the memory and glaring at both of them, a deep black in her eyes

"Marcus is this her, or just part of your mind"

Marcus could only shrug his shoulders

"i'm not sure myself boys, but regardless it will be my great pleasure to leave you both to suffer here forever"

she grew in size towering above us, the darkness radiating around here was seeping in from other parts of Marcus's minds, raising a hand she brought it down on both of them

"nice try, but in here strength of mind is whats important"

luke focused and the game master was flung across the room

"i have all the power in here boy, you've tried to get rid of me before and failed"

the darkness seeping towards her subsided and her form began to shrink

"wrong you have no power, my friends made sure of that, now i'm going to destroy you"

before Luke could do anything he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder

"no luke, we're not going to destroy her"

Marcus was standing next to me staring down at the game master

"but i thought thats we need her gone to stop you from becoming a renshan"

he smiled

"no i just needed to forgive myself, and i have, and now i need to forgive her, all that anger and hatred its gone, she'll fade we don't need to do anymore"

nodding his head Luke turned away from the game master

"come on we have a lot of explaining to do outside"

the moment they both opened their eyes Marcus and Luke were bombarded by questions, they sat there in the alley explaining all the different memories they had encountered

"so we destroyed the power source and that let you get rid of the big bad in the center of his head"

Clyde still looked like he was having trouble understanding which made Luke grin

"yeah Clyde with that gone it was easy" Lukes grin faded when he saw the look on his mums face "mum please"

she held up a hand for silence, before fixing Marcus with a steely gaze

"we all know what you did Marcus and even thought it was a mistake on your part, it doesn't take away from what you've done" Marcus nodded his head in agreement with her words "but, i can't honestly say that i wouldn't have done the same thing had our situations been reversed, i'm not saying i condone what you did, but i understand"

Marcus smiled in gratitude at her and Luke

"thank you Sarah-Jane"

Clyde let out his held breath

"good now that all the serious stuff is over can we get some food, i'm starving"

everyone laughed at Clyde, Rani gave him a playful shove

"you're always hungry clyde come on we're all trying to be serious and emotional and you go and make jokes, no wonder you get on my dads nerves"

Sarah-Jane laughed at the two of them

"we'll get some food later, i just want to say Luke, i'm glad you've found another friend you care for so much"

clyde rolled his eyes at the soppy scene and Rani flicked him in the head

"actually mum, umm, there's something i think i should tell you" Luke turned his head to look at Marcus who gave him a silent nod of agreement "well the thing is umm,  
we are"

shaking his head at Luke's tangled tongue Marcus stepped forwards and slipped his hand into Lukes

"what he's trying to say Sarah-Jane is we're a bit more than friends"

she looked surprised for a moment before smiling

"well it seems a lot more has happened at oxford since my last visit than i realised" luke looked worried "don't worry Luke, you're happy, thats what matters to me"

Sarah-Jane hugged them both before stepping back, and letting Rani hug them as well

"oh i'm happy for you too luke, its about time you found yourself someone"

Luke smiled his thanks before turning to Clyde

"what about you, how do you feel about all this"

the look on Clyde's face worried Luke

"i'm not alright with this i'm angry" Luke's face fell for about a second until Clyde started grinning "i'm angry that you made me waste my time trying to explain girls to you, honestly Luke you should of just told me"

pulling his friends into a hug they all started laughing

"i think i'll skip the lecture on the importance of safe sex and anything else you two need to know, i suspect Luke has already looked up all the information he needs anyway"

the sheepish Look on her sons face told her she was right and they all laughed again

"alright time for food, come one Marcus it can be your treat"

Marcus let himself be pulled along by Clyde

"fair enough, but we'll have to stop by a cash machine, that hitch hiker cleaned out my wallet with all the food it ate, speaking of, where did it end up, it isn't in my head anymore"

they all shrugged and wrote it off as a job for another day, outside of Marcus's mind it was back to being trouble instead of dangerous, none of them noticed a stranger watching them leave

"yes where did the hitch hiker end up?"

the stranger turned to look at River before tapping the side of his head

"i'll keep him there until they've gone"

she considered him carefully

"were you allowed to interfere then, i don't want you altering the timeline too much"

he nodded his head in answer

"no worries, i was exactly where i needed to be, now come on there isn't much time"

he took her hand and they both disappeared

after they had eaten Sarah-Jane took Clyde and Rani home, she said it was for the best before their parent started asking where they were, after saying their goodbyes Luke and Marcus retreated back to Luke's room to talk about the stranger in Marcus's mind

"well it wouldn't be too hard for him to get into my mind if he knew what he was doing"

Luke couldn't believe Marcus hadn't noticed

"a guy goes wandering around in your head and you didn't even notice"

he laughed at the indignation on Marcus's face

"yeah well i was a bit preoccupied, plus something about that guy always seems familiar to me, maybe thats why i didn't notice him"

luke shrugged and went back to cleaning K-9 who had spent most of his day chasing cats, Luke had found out that it was a bet between him and Mr Smith

"well we did it, and my mum didn't send you away, and she wasn't angry at me about"

he trailed off and made Marcus roll his eyes

"of couse she wasn't angry Luke, there's nothing for her to be angry about" leaning in Marcus stole a quick kiss to catch Lukes attention "so this information you looked up, find anything interesting"

Luke blushed at the suggestive tone in Marcus's voice

"well there was a lot of information, i'm afraid you'll have to define 'interesting'"

Marcus ignored Lukes faked naivety

"interesting like this"  
he pulled Luke in for another kiss

"maybe, but you'll have to ask me again tommorow, right now i'm exhausted"

nodding his understanding Marcus maneuvered Luke into his bed and helped him get comfy before climbing in next to him

"night"

luke turned until he was comfy against Marcus's side, it had felt weird having someone else in his bed at first, but he liked having Marcus next to him, it felt safe

"night"

* * *

aww, i get to fulfil my need for a bit of mushy stuff at the end, yay Marcus is safe now they just have to save something (not telling you what though). hope you enjoyed thanks to my two reviewers, and anyone else that reads, much appreciated

hint for next chapter: planet of cake?


	5. the young doctor

before i say anything i want to say thanks to TKlee and DannyP you guys are awesome reviewers, i'm chaging up my point of view writing style, after the last chapter i think this works quite well. as always i don't own the SJA or DW which is probably for the best. please enjoy

* * *

"what do we do the doctor is unconcious, the monitor is broken and we have no idea whats outside the tardis"

amy gestured to the door

"maybe we should just ask the tardis, the doctor said it was telepathic, maybe it will understand we need help"

frowning at her husband amy threw her hands up in the air in defeat

"tardis can you help us?"

the tardis responded by unfolding a panel in one of the side walls, an image of the doctor appeared on the screen

"hello amy rory this is an automated help service i created in case of emergencies, you have exactly ten questions to use, and then this panel will self-destruct, sorry about that, i was flipping between mission impossible and question time when i built it"

"well thats helpful, what is the point of that thing if you only get ten questions?"

amy asked Rory but the doctors help program answered

"oh thats an easy one, to help, 9 questions"

"wait no thats not fair can we start over?"

Rory realised his mistake a second too late

"no, 8 questions"

"oh come on, right amy lets slow down and think, what questions should we ask it?"

Rory turned to look at his wife trying to ignore the doctors face

"depends on the situation, 7 questions"

"wait i wasn't talking to you"

Rory turned back to the screen, frustration on his face

"are you sure?"

the programmed doctor was smirking

"yes"

Rory was trying his best to stay calm

"6 questions"

"did you just count your own question?"

amy had turned to the programmed doctor with disbelief

"yes i did, 5 questions"

they both screamed in frustration

"alright then doctor, when is it outside?"

Rory decided to make use of the questions before they used up any more

"2011, your time, 4 questions"

"OK thats good, where are we?"

amy had caught on to Rory's idea

"earth, london to be exact, close to oxford, 3 questions"

they both stepped away from the panel

"OK earth close to oxford, that were Luke is, we should grab him bring him inside the tardis, and his alien friend too"

rory nodded his agreement

"do you think Luke will be able to fix the chameleon thing and save the doctor?"

they both looked down at the unconcious doctor, both hoping it was true

"if he doesn't he should be able to understand the instructions about the technology enough to fix it, 2 questions"

"no that wasn't, god did he set that thing up just to be annoying?"

Rory was rapidly losing his temper

"yes i did after you ate the last bannana Rory, 1 question"

"Rory! luke could have used the questions to figure out whats wrong with the doctor" Rory held up his hands in apology "oh just shut it and come on"

grabbing her husband amy took the Tardis key out of the doctors pocket and they both exited the tardis

Luke woke up, it took him a few seconds to figure out what woke him, he could feel a tickling breath against his side, looking down at Marcus he smiled to himself. he enjoyed moments like these when everything was peaceful, unfortunately his peace was broken by a loud banging on his door

"alright i'm coming"

climbing out of bed Luke slipped into his jeans and pulled a shirt on before opening the door

"hey Lukey, its good to see you again, can we come in, excellent"

luke was quickly pushed aside as amy wandered into his room, Rory waiting hesitantly outside the door

"Amy would you stop barging into my room, how did you even get in the building"

smiling mysteriously at Luke Amy cast another look at the contents of the room, including a sleeping Marcus

"oh i have my ways"

feeling an unfamiliar surge of jealousy, Luke moved passed Amy and pulled the covers up over Marcus, then he turned to Rory for an explanation

"oh don't ask, it involves a lot of things that i'm none to pleased with, anyway sorry for barging in again Luke, but we have a serious emergency and unfortunately it put the doctor out of action"

Luke's face lit up in surprise, he wondered what or who could be responsible

"OK well give me a minute to wake Marcus up and we'll both come help, K-9 go with those two, we'll be out in a second"

nodding their thanks Amy and Rory exited the room followed by K-9, Luke turned to Marcus and gently shook him awake, after about ten minutes they were all ready and Rory lead the way back to the Tardis, even in Lukes car the journey took them about half an hour

"amy say that name again"

Marcus was still quite sleepy, and the car journey wasn't helping

"what you mean the black flood?"

Marcus exchanged a worried glance with Luke

"the black flood is the name given to a universally renowned assassin, he got it after he caused a flood that killed over one thousand lifeforms, just to get his target , the guy is ruthless, if he's after the doctor then we have serious problems"

Luke turned down the street and Rory leaned forwards around K-9 to speak

"anyway he hit the doctor with this little poison dart, he said it prevented him from regenerating, then he put this weird thing with a fog watch on the front over his head, he told us it would make him human, and that would allow him to survive the poison, got to admit not a lot of that made sense"

Luke took a second to process everything he had been told

"okay, timelords as a species can regenerate when they're near death to save themselves, the assassin's poison prevents regeneration and is killing the doctor, i imagine this chameleon thing is a way of rewriting his DNA, my guess is humans are immune to the poison, but if thats the case then whats the problem"

shifting K-9 onto her husband amy leaned forwards

"the assassin shot at us through the tardis door, hit the console, we think it made the chameleon thing malfunction, because the doctor is unconcious and...twelve"

Marcus and Luke both spoke at the same time

"twelve?"

amy and rory nodded, finding the tardis inside an alley they all got out and amy unlocked the door, but he blocked the way before anyone could get in

"oh yeah, be careful, there's this question thing in there, we have one question left and then it goes boom, it could be useful so no questions once inside OK"

Marcus and Luke looked confused but they agreed anyway, once inside Amy lead them to a space behind the control panel

"he's gone. he's not there, oh my god we lost the doctor"

Rory let a mild wave of panic overtake him

"Rory shut up, the door was locked he can't have gone far, he must just be inside the Tardis somewhere"

they all looked towards the staircase

"alright this is the chameleon arch"

Luke was holding a slightly bent helmet and fog watch

"umm yeah thats the thing"

luke looked it over

"well i'll work on the control panel, if i get it working i can find some information on the chamelon arch, you three go find the doctor, K-9 you can help me with the panel"

K-9 rolled forwards

"affirmative master"

Marcus followed Amy and Rory and they all walked deeper into the Tardis

"so yeah stick close, this place is pretty easy to get lost on, oh and don't go through that door"

amy pointed to one of the first doors they came to

"why not?"

Marcus took a half step towards the door

"because thats our room"

nodding his understanding Marcus stepped away

"alright Rory you take him, i'll go this way

amy wandered off leaving Marcus and Rory alone, they slowly made their way through all the rooms of the tardis searching each one for the young doctor

"so Rory i hear you gave Luke some good advice"

Rory turned and gave Marcus a serious look before he started walking again

"yeah i did, i'm guessing things turned out alright"

Marcus nodded before looking in a few more doors

"yeah Luke saved me like he always does, anyway i wanted to say thanks for helping"

Rory smiled

"you're welcome, i'm glad i could help"

elsewhere amy was still searching for the doctor

"oh come on doctor where are you?"

she had searched at least 8 rooms now, before she could try another door she heard a splashing sound, running in the same direction she found a dripping wet twelve year old

"oh there you are, why are you all wet?"

the young boy grinned sheepishly

"i was swimming, well not on purpose, i was actually trying to find my way out of this place"

Amy couldn't help but grin at the doctor, he looked kind of cute as a kid

"come on then follow me kid"

Amy lead the way with the young doctor following, dripping on the tardis floor

"K-9 a bit more light over here please, no over here, ugh i give up"

Luke got up from under the console

"i'll get my spare torch from the car just stay here"

repairing the console was taking time but Luke was nearly there, he walked to the tardis door and opened it, before he could step outside he was knocked off his feet by the assassin

"master Luke"

K-9's laser flashed and the assassin dodged, Luke got up and ran to the console, before he could escape the assassin pinned him against the console. Luke got a good look at the assassin, his eyes were completely black, but his face was ghostly pale, and the blade in his hand was a cruel curved shape, designed for reaping lives

"maximum defense mode"

before K-9 could hit the assassin he was electrified by the device in the assassins hand and stopped in place

"identity unknown, race human, not my target, just an obstacle, any last words"

Luke's brain scrambled for a plan

"yeah one plus one"

"easy two, no more questions, baboom"

Luke dived to the floor to avoid the explosion, the assassin struck the console and landed hard on the floor

"thanks doctor"

Luke got up an ran as fast as he could to the stairs, but a hand grabbed him and threw him backwards

"now you die human"

Luke closed his eyes and waited for the assassins knife but it never came, he opened them again when he heard the clang of metal

"luke are you alright? we heard an explosion"

Marcus helped him up, Luke could see Amy and the young doctor behind him

"yeah where's the assassin"

he followed Marcus's finger and saw Rory with a roman sword in hand fighting the assassin

"yeah go Rory!"

amy's cheers got the assassins attention and Rory knocked him to the ground, within seconds the assassin was restrained and Rory stepped backwards breathless

"Rory, where did you learn to do that"

Rory looked at the blade in his hand with surprise

"umm a roman legion, i think"

Amy stepped forwards and put her arms around Rory

"my husband getting sweaty with a bunch of hot italians, why is this the first i've heard of this"

the young doctor mimed vomiting behind them and Rory blushed

"ugh get a room both of you, i'm serious there are loads of them in this place"

the doctors outburst caught Lukes attention

"umm doctor, why are you soaking wet"

the young doctor frowned in confusion for a second

"oh you mean me, i'm not a doctor, the names john smith, i found a swimming pool in the bathtub"

Luke was very tempted to ask if it was just a bathtub, but decided against it, Marcus was smiling at the whole scene

"any luck fixing the console"

Marcus looked down at the console panel, it had started whirring

"actually yeah i think i did, that last kick from the assassin reset it, lets see, oh well thats easy, you metioned a fog watch right, the doctor needs to open it and look inside"

everyone looked for the fog watch, the young doctor pulled it out of his pocket

"you mean this thing"

everyone gathered round to look at it

"what do you want me to do with it"

the young doctor looked at everyone confused

"you just need to open it kid, the rest will make sense"

shrugging his shoulder the young doctor opened the watch, everyone shielded their eyes against the bright light, when they could open them again the doctor stood in front of them

"well that was interesting, umm why am i all wet"

they took the time to explain everything to the doctor, he seemed to find the whole story fascinating

"well Rory i never would have thought you had it in you, must be a remnant of your time as a plastic roman"

the assassin stirred behind them

"what are you going to do with him?"

the doctor pondered Marcus's question for a second

"oh don't worry about it, i'll think of something, now how about a party, i just skipped about 900 birthdays i feel like cake"

Amy and Rory laughed at the doctor, Luke couldn't help but wonder something

"ok doctor but where are we gonna get 900 cakes from"

despite the question the doctor seemed completely unworried

"easy, planet of cake"

Amy stared at the doctor

"there's a planet of cake?"

the doctor turned to her with a mischevious grin

"not yet, but all we have to do is find a culture early enough in its development, introduce cake as a deity and in about 1000 years voila, planet of cake"

nobody could tell if he was serious or not

"alright well that sounds like fun doctor but we should get going"

nodding his head in understanding the doctor turned and walked them back out of his tardis

"OK Luke, be careful out there"

amy and rory helped them lift K-9 out of the tardis and waved their goodbyes as they disappeared into the tardis

"come on then Luke, lets get k-9 home and get him fixed"

they each grabbed one end of K-9 and lifted him into the car, then they drove off. elsewhere the doctors tardis materialised and the doctor stepped out

"what do you want doctor i'm busy"

the stranger turned and looked at the timelord

"i came to make sure you know what you're doing, trying to change time is one thing, but trusting River, you've got to be careful"

the strangers face contorted with anger

"yeah well, when you don't see fit to grace the world with your presence i have to make do, and i'm not changing time, i'm changing it back"

the doctor looked to the vortex manipulator on the strangers wrist

"you've been through a lot to get this far haven't you, alright, just remember what i said, be careful especially around River"

the doctor re-entered his Tardis leaving him alone on the street, the anger in his eyes burned bright even in the Dark, as he walked a strange shadow built up around him

"why do you fight, you cannot defeat me and you know it"

he turned to look at the creature swirling in the dark around him

"i can defeat you, i'll put everything back just the way it should be"

the darkness echoed with laughter

"but you won't be able to defeat me, you still don't know how"

the stranger just scowled at the face in the dark

"not yet but i'll figure it out"

more laughter echoed through the street

"the secret is hidden, you won't find it, so just give up"

he turned to the face in the dark

"i will find it Trickster, and you won't stop me"

hitting the vortex manipulator on his wrist the stranger disappeared,

"the time of changing is now, even you can't stop me"

* * *

cue dramatic music, its about time the trickster made an appearance, he is just too awesome to be left out, my last chapter should have you glued to your seats, and if not i have superglue at home (just kidding (i think)) its kinda tricky to write so i'm gonna take tim to get it right, so basically watch this space, it will be here soon


	6. Trickster versus the universe

first things first, loss of a legend in elizabeth sladen, not sure what else to say cept she will be missed. final chapter in what might possibly end up being my final story, thanks to TKLee and DannyP(who is a girl just so nobody else makes my mistake) you guys have been amazing and consistent reviewers, unfortunately the spell checker i've been using seems to have permanently given up, so you may find some mistakes, but anyway please enjoy

* * *

"Jake! get out of bed right now, come on mum says we're going to be late for school"

Lisa was beginning to lose patience, she had been ready for ten minutes, and her little brother hadn't even gotten out of bed, eventually a scruffy young boy stumbled down the stairs

"yeah i'm up, now stop shouting"

rolling her eyes at her little brother Lisa straightened out his school uniform, their mum appeared round the corner

"have you two seen my keys, i know they're around here somewhere"

reaching into his mothers pocket, Jake retrieved her keys

"found them"

his mother grinned and ruffled his hair. ten minutes later they were ready and in the car, after a few minutes in the car jake let loose a big yawn

"are you alright little brother, did you stay up late watching cartoons again?"

it wouldn't be the first time her little brother had done it

"no i had bad dreams, it was a strange dream, that man from the big house was in it"

Lisa didn't mention it, but she had a stange dream as well

"you mean Luke smith?"

lisa had no idea why he would be dreaming about him

"yeah it was him and this other guy in that funny yellow car, and when i woke up my puzzle piece was glowing"

they had both recieved them as gifts for jake's birthday, Lisa took hers out and looked at it, it was cool metal and it fit together with Jake's although they didn't have all the pieces to finish it, the note had said 'keep them close it's important'

"it's probably nothing, just a bad dream"

he looked down at his feet, they had both only met Luke once, but Jake had loved asking him random questions to see if there was something Luke didn't know

"I wish he hadn't died, his mum was all sad after his funeral"

Lisa had heard about it at school, her mum and sarah-jane had been pretty good friends when they moved to Bannerman road but after Luke's funeral Sarah-Jane stopped talking to everyone, mum hadn't seen her in ages

"ok out you get, have fun at school both of you"

school went by as it always did, but Lisa couldn't stop thinking about the dream she had, that night after she finally fell asleep she had it again, she was in Sarah-Jane's house walking up to the attic, her mum had volunteered her to help move some stuff around the house, she could hear Sarah-Jane talking to someone, she opened the door and saw Luke on the computer screen, and...before she could focus on the other person Jake woke her up by bouncing on her bed

"Lisa wake up, i had the dream again"

she pushed her hyper brother off the bed and looked at the clock, it was two in the morning

"Jake its the middle of the night"

he picked himself up off the floor

"but my puzzle piece is glowing look"

he was holding it in his hand and it was glowing a faint blue, grabbing her piece from beside her bed she found it was glowing as well

"ok this is just weird, i had a dream too, there was something up in the attic that i saw, but i can't remember what it was"

he bounced back onto the bed and held them close

"well come on then, lets go look and see what you can't remember"

with that he bounded off of the bed and ran down the stairs, groaning in frustration she pulled on some clothes and chased him down the stairs, he was already out the front door and running across the street, she finally caught him at the front door of 13 bannerman road

"Jake get back here, what are you doing?"

he was lifting up all of the pots

"i saw that girl Rani doing this once"

under the third pot he found the key and before she could stop him he was in the door

"Jake this is breaking and entering, now will you get back here"

he ignored her and ran up the stairs, Lisa found the house kinda spooky in the dark, she ran up the stairs after her brother. she finally caught him as he ran through the attic door

"this place isn't nearly as cool with all the stuff gone, now do you remember what you forgot?"

her brother made about as much sense as always, but looking around she was trying to focus on what she saw

"ugh i don't know little brother, i'm trying to remember but its all fuzzy"

he sat down on the step and gazed around the empty attic

"this place is kind of cool, its a shame Sarah-jane isn't here anymore, she was always fun"

sighing she sat down next to him

"i know little brother, now come on we shouldn't be here"

"agreed you shouldn't, one of you want to tell me what the hell you're doing up here?"

they jumped up from where they were sitting and looked at the man who came into the attic, Lisa recognised him

"i'm really sorry Clyde, i know we shouldn't be in here"

he looked furious

"yeah you shouldn't, now get out both of you"

he stepped further into the attic glaring at both of them

"wait we can't go, we haven't remembered the forgotten thing yet"

Clyde's glare turned to a look of confusion, Lisa stepped in to try and explain

"i know we shouldn't be up here Clyde, but we've both been having weird dreams, and then our puzzle pieces started glowing, we just needed answers"

they held up the still glowing puzzle pieces and his eyes widened in surprise

"where did you get those? they look like they're made of the same stuff...its not possible" he stepped passed them into the attic and stood in front of the fireplace "Mr Smith i need you"

the children jumped back in surprise as the entire wall opened up, revealing a giant computer

"oh cool!"

Jake looked like christmas had come early

"sorry you two explanations will have to wait, Mr Smith scan those pieces of metal and tell me they're what i think they are?"

he took the puzzle pieces and placed them on a tray

"if you thought those pieces of metal were the same metal cube that protects from the tricksters power then yes you are correct, although is it wise to be discussing this in front of those two"

Clyde turned to look at both of them

"they're part of this Mr Smith, i'm not sure why but they are, you both said you were having weird dreams right, i don't think they were dreams, i think you were remembering stuff, but it isn't coming through clearly cause you only have pieces of the cube"

Lisa looked skeptical

"OK this is crazy, you're crazy, Jake we're going come on"

she tried to leave but Clyde blocked her way

"no! you're both staying until you tell me what you dreamt about, now talk"

Lisa stepped between Clyde and her brother, he was frightening both of them

"chill out and we'll tell you"

he took a deep breath and then let it out

"sorry, please can you tell me what you saw"

satisfied she closed her eyes and tried to remember

"i came up to the attic this one time looking for Sarah-Jane, she was talking to Luke on her computer, there's something there, but its, i can't remember"

it was so close but she couldn't quite focus

"come on focus, i let Luke down once, if the trickster is involved i might be able to save him, please"

she let out a deep breath and tried again

"there was Luke on the screen, and, another guy on the screen, i don't recognise him though, but i think i saw him kissing Luke"

Clyde's face lit up in surprise

"are you sure?"

Lisa nodded before turning to her little brother

"what did you dream about?"

he scrunched up his face in concentration

"i saw Luke when he was driving back to university, and there was a guy in the car with him, he was fiddling with this thing around his neck and then his hiar turned all red and stuff" his sister looked at him face full of disbelief "its the truth, his hair was brown and then it turned bright red"

Lisa turned to Clyde who shrugged before turning to Mr Smith

"alright Mr Smith, if the Trickster is involved then maybe this guy is someone we used to know, any clues who he might be"

Mr Smith's screen glowed and loads of records popped up

"i cannot be definitive with who this man might be, or his species, i have narrowed it down to the most likely possibilites"

Lisa could see a smile creep across Clyde's face, it made a refreshing change from the grim expression he usually wore

"OK we need to bring Rani into this, and the brigadier, and maybe we could even get the doctor involved"

before Clyde's rant could continue Mr Smith started flashing in warning

"oh i'm afraid not Clyde Langer, there is no undoing what i have done"

Jake and Lisa backed behind Clyde as shadows formed a terrifying figure

"Mr Smith we need a hard copy of that information" Mr Smith obeyed the command and a small handheld device slid out of him" you two take that and find Rani, tell her the Trickster is back and you two need to get to Sarah-Jane"

they took the disk but the trickster blocked the door

"there is no escape for any of you, i will make sure of it"

Clyde turned to the kids behind him

"i'll buy you some time, now run"

Clyde looked down at his hand, it crackled faintly with blue energy

"that is not enough to stop me, not this time"

Clyde ran forwards and grabbed the Trickster, using the energy to hold him at bay, grabbing her brother Lisa ran from the attic, down the stairs as quickly as she could crashing through the front door, they ran out into the street, before they could get far and explosion ripped apart the attic with a cloud of black and blue energy

"jake!, jake are you alright?"

jake slowly stirred and she helped him up, a lot of people had already left their homes to see what happened, looking around Lisa saw Rani rushing across the street

"Rani wait"

she turned to look at them both, a shocked look in her eyes

"are you alright, what are you two doing out here?"

she wasn't really paying them any attention just staring at the wreck of Sarah-Janes' house

"Clyde sent us he told us to tell you that the Trickster is back and that we need to get to Sarah-Jane"

she almost screamed at them

"Clyde's in there, we have to help him!"

before she could get to the house Lisa cut her off

"Rani, Clyde stayed in there to buy us some time, i think he's..."

Lisa couldn't bring herself to finish, Rani looked ready to break down, but she steeled herself

"alright both of you in my car now"

she opened her little car and they jumped in, hitting the accelerator her car sped out of Bannerman Road. behind them in the attic a cruel shape reformed out of the shadows, letting loose an echoing laugh

"hey Rani where is Sarah-Jane, mum lost contact with her after Luke died"

Rani kept her eyes fixed on the road in front of her

"she is in a care home, after Luke she...she lost it, broke down, couldn't look after herself, i'll take you both to her, we have to hope she can help"

Lisa let her brother fall asleep against her side

"Rani are you alright?"

she saw Rani visibly tense when she spoke

"yeah i'm fine, what about the two of you, this must seem kinda crazy"

for the first time that night lisa let a grin creep across her face

"yeah completely crazy, but no less real because of it" this made Rani smile a little as well "Rani what is the trickster, what does he do"

she let out a deep breath

"i'm never entirely sure, Sarah-Jane says that he changes moments in time and then feeds of the chaos it creates, he must be the reason Luke died, he changed a moment in time"

Lisa took a moment to process

"so the dreams me and Jake have been having are memories like Clyde said"

Rani nodded her agreement

"not just that, they must be memories from the timeline before the Trickster changed things"

that made sense to Lisa

"ok so how do we stop him, what do we do?"

Rani tapped her fingers on the wheel for a few seconds

"we need to find the person he struck a deal with, his deals are what give him power, if we can get them to break the deal the trickster is finished, but who could it be"

Lisa looked at the device Mr Smith had given them, she flicked through all of the different species on the list

"Clyde helped us figure it out a bit, there is this guy in the dreams we both had, we think he was one of the alien species Mr Smith found on this device, maybe he was the guy that made the deal"

Rani pulled her car into a car park, they had reached the care home

"i think you're right, if we can figure out who that was we'll be able to defeat the trickster, come on we'll have to sneak in to see Sarah-Jane"

waking up Jake they slowly crept up to the side doors of the care home, it was empty in the corridors, after a few twists and turns they arrived at Sarah-Jane's door she was sat inside on her bed, the TV flickered in the corner

"i was waiting for you, Hello again Rani"

Rani gave her mentor a small smile before she lead the kids into the room

"Sarah-Jane its good to see you again" jake bounded up and sat beside her on the bed "we need your help"

Sarah-Jane smiled and ruffled his hair, Lisa sat down on Sarah-Jane's other side

"oh thats nice dears, what help do you need, i've been practicing my knitting you do look a little cold jake, maybe you should have worn a coat over your pyjamas, i could knit you something warm to wear"

the children shared looks of dismay, they had thought Sarah-Jane was her same old self, but something was missing her eyes were unfocused

"hey Lisa maybe we should let her hold these, they might help her remember"

he was holding his piece of the tricksters box

"oh no dears, they aren't meant for me, you must find the one they do belong to, hidden among the stars"

Rani turned to look at Sarah-Jane in surprise

"yes thats what we need to do Sarah-Jane do you know who that is"

Sarah-Jane just looked at Rani a small smile on her face

"i'm afraid not my dear, now Jake hold still i need to measure you up for this sweater"

Rani turned away again back to the TV, there was a news report on Bannerman Road

'no clue yet on exactly what caused the explosion, but we can now confirm that there was one person killed in the blast, we will bring you more news as we discover more'

Rani started crying holding herself, tears streaming down her face Lisa heard her whisper Clyde's name, she got up and put a comforting hand on Rani's shoulder

"i'm sorry Rani"

her crying continued and they both watched the news report while Jake sat with Sarah-Jane, her eyes caught sight of the television report

"i was so sad when Luke died, after all the trouble we went through to get him back from the pirates, and then he was taken again by that witch serena, K-9 said he just froze, it was like he was paralyzed by fear, oh Luke"

Jake gave her a hug and she patted him on the head

"right thats enough crying from both of us Rani, you have to get going, he is coming and you haven't got much time"

Rani couldn't believe what she heard

"Sarah-Jane?"

She smiled at Rani, a flash of the old Sarah-Jane burnt in her eyes

"you need to get to this planet, UNIT can help, the planet you are looking for is this one" she brought up the record on the handheld they had "now lets get going"

Rani nodded wiping the tears out of her eyes, grabbing the handheld she opened Sarah-Jane's door, all four of them snuck out of the care home, Sarah-Jane fell behind in the car park

"Sarah-Jane come on we have to hurry"

Sarah-Jane gave them all a warm smile

"you need more time Rani, i'll keep the Trickster occupied, you get those two to the black archives, they have the teleport relay you need"

Rani hugged her friend one more time before getting in her car, Lisa and Jake got in after Rani, they sped away down the road, Sarah-Jane waited in the carpark quietly after a few minutes she looked up, staring into the featureless face of the trickster

"Sarah-Jane its good to see you again, to think all i'd need to do to defeat you is get rid of that pathetic son of yours, its was almost too easy, and now i've had so much time to feed on the chaos it created and gain strength, not even your precious doctor can stop me now"

Sarah-Jane held the Trickster with a calm and unwavering gaze

"you're right, the doctor probably couldn't stop you know, but he doesn't need to, there is another working against you, and he gave me this, now normally i hate using these things, but i'll make an exception for you"

she pulled a weapon out of her pocket, it was small but the core crackled with artron energy, pointing it at the trickster she fired, and he was enveloped in blue energy.  
already a few miles away Rani saw the light in the distance, she was the last one standing, Lisa was looking at all the information Mr Smith had on Solarans

"hey Jake look at this, the Solaran royal family, look at this guy"

Jake looked at the picture and his mouth opened in surprise

"thats him, the guy in the car, whoa he's the prince of a whole planet, how did he end up on earth?"

Lisa looked to Rani for suggestions

"i don't know, but Sarah-Jane told you that you need to bring those pieces of the Tricksters box to someone who is hidden amongst the stars, she must have meant him, if you give him your pieces of the box then he'll be able to remember more"

Jake and Lisa looked at their pieces of the box, they had remembered, so could the prince. Rani kept her eyes open, she had only been to the archives once but she could see familar signs as she drove, taking a quick look in her rear-view mirror her heart stopped

"oh no, hang on you two!"

behind her car and building was a dark storm, she could see the tricksters face in the middle of it, the ground was being torn apart in the wake of the storm

"Rani what do we do?"

lisa turned to look out the back window, the storm was tearing at the back of the car, with a scream Rani's car spun off the road and into a ditch. Lisa opened her eyes slowly, outside the storm was building around them, laughter echoed around them cruel and chilling.

"Trickster! leave them alone"

Lisa crawled out of the car with her brother, they could barely make out the person shouting at the edge of the storm

"your allies are falling one by one, you cannot stop me"

Lisa heard the stranger whisper Rani's name, his voice full of sadness

"leave the kids alone, its me you want, i can keep sending people to stop you"

the Tricksters face turned to the stranger, with a flash of pointed teeth the trickster stormed towards the stranger, who disappeared with the device on his wrist, the storm faded, Lisa wasn't sure what to do for a second, she screamed when she felt an unfamiliar hand on her shoulder

"relax, my name is River, i'm here to help"

jake had climbed back into the car to check on Rani

"jake"

he was crying silently

"i'm sorry both of you, but we have to get going, the Trickster will only be off our backs for so long"

Lisa helped Jake out of the car and they both followed River along the side of the road

"hey River, who are you exactly, and why are you helping us"

despite the danger Lisa saw River smile

"oh isn't that a question, for now i'm here to help because its in my best interests, i can help you get to Solaris, from there you'll have to get Marcus to help you, he's the prince you found on the datapad, my associate, the one who is distracting the trickster, he's almost certain that Marcus is the one who made the deal with the Trickster, you have to get him to take back his agreement"

she didn't give them anymore answers than that, after walking for ten mintues they came across a dark and forboding facility

"alright both of you, just follow my lead"

River marched up to the front gates, almost immediately two soldiers appeared weapons drawn

"identify yourself"

River seemed completely unfazed by there aggression

"very well, code 172-509"

responding almost instantly the front gates swung open, the stunned soldier turned to River

"how did you do that?"

River just smiled

"i had an old friend install it a very long time ago, now take me to whoever is in charge"

the soldier lead them into the archives, the soldier that greeted them had a stern gaze that made Jake shiver in fear

"you have exactly sixty seconds to tell me why i shouldn't have you all thrown in jail"

Lisa wanted to hit this guy for threatening her brother

"i can manage that in ten, because if you don't help me right now you will be responsible for the end of the world" everyone was shocked into silence, but the tone in her voice left no doubt in the soldiers mind "now these two need to be teleported to these coordinates, take them and be quick about it"

the captain motioned to one of his men, River turned to Jake and Lisa

"you two go with him, he'll get you to Solaris, i'll buy you all the time i can"

they followed the soldier into the archives leaving River at the front gates, in the distance she could see the Trickster's storm building after a few more minutes of waiting he was in front of her teeth clenched in anger

"to think even you would be involved in this as well, truly this is turning into an interesting day"

River just smiled, her usual enigmatic smile

"yes well today you picked a fight with the universe, Luke may seem small in the grand scheme of things, but even the smallest parts have a role to play, and his is more vital than even you realise"

the Tricksters teeth broke into a sinister smile

"and your part is even greater still, how much chaos will your death cause i wonder, perhaps it will even bring an end to the life of your precious doctor"

Rivers smile broke and was replaced by a steely glare

"you cannot even wipe one human from existence, he is far beyond your reach Trickster, and as for threatening him, you'll regret it, Captain now!"

at her command the soldier leapt from their hiding places, the weapons River had given them all aimed at the Trickster. he screamed in agony as beams of blue energy ripped through him, but even under this onslaught River could see him growing. one by one the soldiers in the courtyard disappeared into the darkness until only the Captain remained

"Dr Song i suggest you retreat"

she nodded her thanks before turning away from the fight, in front of her the stranger appeared

"come on, those weapons will only block the interference for a few more seconds"

placing her hand on the vortex manipulator they both disappeared. the lone soldier lead Jake and Lisa deep into the archives, to a perfectly spherical room in the centre of the room was the teleport relay, even from a distance they could hear it humming

"right stand in the centre of the relay, i'll operate it from here"

Lisa started moving but Jake wouldn't budge

"what about you, you'll be left behind"

the soldier exchanged a grim look with Lisa

"yes sir, someone needs to stay behind to operate the machines, now before you go i need some coordinates"

Lisa handed him the datapad, and Jake obediently followed his sister above them they heard echoing screams.

"thanks for your help mister"

the soldier gave them both a grateful smile

"your welcome, and the names Oliver"

typing quickly the soldier hit a switch and Lisa felt her entire body tingle and she had to close her eyes against the bright light, when she opened them again she was standing in a palace her little brother at her side, and for the second time that day she was surrounded by soldiers

"teleporting directly into the palace of Solaris is strictly forbidden, i should execute you where you stand, who are you?"

she wasn't sure what to do but Jake had spotted someone standing behind the guards, an amused expression on his face

"hey you're prince Marcus the guy we're supposed to find, oh cool your hair really does change colors"

Marcus broke into a grin behind him both his mother and father were smiling as well

"easy Krell i don't think those two are all that dangerous" the guards relaxed and Marcus walked towards Lisa "now what are the two of you doing on Solaris, and where did you come from"

they had found him, after all that happened today Lisa felt close to tears, the story spilled from her lips, every now and then Jake pitched in with a detail he felt was important, it took them more than 10 minutes to explain it all, once finished Marcus was staring at them in disbelief

"thats one amazing story" he turned to adress the two people sat on the thrones behind him "mum, dad could any of this be true"

Lisa and Jake both turned to look at the king and queen, the queen was beautiful, but not covered in the jewels and other symbols of royalty Lisa had expected, she had a simple beauty, the king on her other side was dressed similarly, no symbols of royalty but he had an air of authority, and Lisa didn't doubt for a second he was in charge

"come now Marcus, after all the tales i have told you of the pantheon of dischord, you shouldn't disbelieve such a story"

Jake could see an embarassed blush creep up Marcus's face and he surpressed a giggle

"indeed and even without such knowledge i cannot detect a shred of a lie in them"

Marcus nodded to his father before he turned back to Jake and Lisa, his hands outstretched

"alright then, let me hold those pieces of the cube you both have, lets see if i can see what you need me to remember"

silently they handed over the cube pieces to Marcus, he held them eyes close in concentration, they could see flickers of colour flash through his hair as he experienced old memories, with a start he dropped the pieces and stepped back

"they are telling the truth, those memories, those feelings, i remember them, but how? it's like a whole other life inside my head"

Lisa retrieved the cube pieces before stepping closer

"the trickster makes deals with people, he changes moments in time, our guess is he came to you and changed something in your life that stopped you from leaving the planet, thats why Luke died on our world, he didn't have you to help him"

Marcus shook his head in confusion

"but wait Luke he warned me about the Trickster, i knew how dangerous he was, why would i make a dea...oh, i see"

everyone stared at him for a few seconds, eventually Jake spoke up

"so what did you see?"

he had his eyes closed again, only this time Lisa could see a deep blue pass through his hair

"in this other timeline, your dead" he turned to his mother "and Solaris is in ruins, if that is all true, then i'm not surprised i made that deal"

his mother and father shared a look

"i'm sorry you have to do this, but the Trickster is coming, and he's only getting stronger" Lisa hated herself for uttering those words, before anyoen else could speak there was an explosion outside the palace "he's here already, please you have to take back that deal"

Marcus looked torn between his mother and Lisa

"how can i do this, if i take back this deal then my mother will be dead and my home will be destroyed"

Jake slowly backed away from the palace doors as the terrifying sounds outside got closer

"Marcus Reylan-Vensera shame on you" his fathers booming voice cut through even the noise outside "i raised you to be a king, a leader who can make hard choices, this abomination that has been set loose must be destroyed, it pains me that the cost must be so high, but you must never shy away from the right decision"

his mother stepped down from the throne and hugged Marcus

"it is the right thing to do"

hugging her back Marcus nodded his head, stepping in front of Jake and Lisa he faced the palace door, after a few seconds they were blown of their hinges, and the Trickster towered in front of them, Krell stepped forwards gun in hand

"relax Krell, i got this"

steeling himself Marcus took a step closer to the trickster who turned to him

"it seems those insects have run far to reach you, but the question is, have they run far enough"

the Tricksters confidence unnerved Lisa, something felt wrong

"you are a pathetic being, you have taken something very important from me, and to get him back and defeat you i have to give up something just as important, but i'm not going to let you win, i take back my agreement"

the Trickster paused in the air for a moment, before letting loose a triumphant bark of laughter

"fool, i appear to those who are dying and grant them their wish, but i didn't appear to you" Marcus turned to his mother but the Trickster already knew what he was thinking "oh it wasn't her either, although i did try, far to noble for me to corrupt, but now i have strength enough to destroy you all"

the Trickster rose growing bigger until he filled half the room, he lunged but a fierce light held him at bay, it was radiating from Marcus's father a golden glow that burnt away the darkness in the room

"Marcus go take the children and leave quickly, if you are not the source of this creatures power then you must find the person that is, now hurry"

obeying his father Marcus took the hands of Lisa and Jake and they all ran from the palace, Marcus's mother stepped up beside her husband and slipped her fingers into his, the light intensified

"you two cannot restrain me for long, decrepit old fools"

the kings face contorted in anger

"you stand before the king and queen of solaris creature, i suggest you remember your place"

the light grew until it blocked the king and queen from sight, outside of the palace Marcus could see it, he said a silent goodbye before leading the way to his ship

"alright inside both of you, Aphelion can get us off world, buy some time for use to figure out who we need to find"

Aphelions engine roared to life and they shot away from the planet surface, the ship shimmered and disappeared from sight

"okay this guy made a deal with someone, we thought it was you but the Trickster only appears to people who are dying, so it can't be you, but your life was affected so it must be someone you know"

Marcus had his eyes closed concentrating

"in both memories the war started but the difference between the two is the death of my mother, she survived in this life, so my father gave peace a second chance, so it had to have been her, but it wasn't, who could it have been?"

he threw up his hands in defeat, Jake was playing with the puzzle pieces next to the console

"so maybe your mother being alive and Luke dying was just an accident, something he didn't mean to happen on purpose, it stopped you from leaving home, so it must be someone you met after you left"

Lisa grinned at her brother, every now and then he had a habit of being brilliant

"good thinking kid, alright people i met in my other life after i left Solaris, well there's Luke but he died, i doubt it would be his family, maybe it wa..." Lisa stared at Marcus, waiting for him to finish "aphelion were those your memories"

Jake was watching them and the cube pieces were on aphelions console

"yes i believe they are, its most confusing, so much conflicting data"

the console flashed and brought up a blurry record of a woman on the ship

"Mara! oh my god its her, aphelion you were crashing, its got to be her, plot a course for stormcage, quickly"

he jumped into the seat and helped with the coordinates

"wait how can your ship remember?"

lisa looked around the spaceship, it looked all metal

"oh it involves an imprinted conciousness on a crystal matrix, i am rather unique afterall"

that made sense but something still bothered her

"ok so Mara is they key, but how did we go from saving her life to your mother being alive"

the two didn't seem to connect

"she was caught breaking into the Solaris vaults, but before she could be taken to stormcage she requested to speak to my mother, my guess the trickster told Mara to warn my mother, then Mara escapes the prison escort, falls to earth but she never met me or aphelion, being taken back to stormcage spared her life"

Lisa nodded and took her seat as aphelion powered them towards the prison, the flight took barely an hour, although to Lisa it felt longer, any second now she was going to hear the Tricksters laughter behind them, finally the prison was in sight, everything about the dark walls made Lisa neverous, jake had a frim grip on his sisters hand and was refusing to let go

"alright the guard's letting us in, we have to find her cell, i don't think we have long"

behind them they heard the guard scream the trickster appeared behind them in an almost bestial form

"lisa take your brother and run, i'll hold him back"

the same light radiated from Marcus as he walked forwards, restricting the Tricksters movement, Lisa and Jake ran, she wasn't even sure who she was looking for, a couple of cells down someone called to them

"wait are you two looking for me?"

the woman who talked to them wore a somber expression

"are you Mara, listen we need your help, you aren't going to believe us but there's this thing called the Trickster, and you made a deal with it and we need you to take it back"

Lisa put a hand over her brothers mouth to stop him from talking so Mara could process what he said

"oh don't worry children i believe you, he came to me at the end of my life, and in fear i took the deal, to save my life all i had to do was pass on a little message, it seemed so simple, so harmless, Trickster indeed, his names appropriate, here i am alive, but this is no life trapped in a cell"

she seemed so sad, behind them they all heard Marcus scream, seconds later the Trickster surrounded them roaring in frustration, before he could hurt Lisa or Jake Mara shouted at him

"leave them alone, i know you now for what you are, and i would rather die than let you walk another second in this universe, i take back my agreement!"

the Trickster screamed and all around them was a storm of energy, so bright Lisa had to shut her eyes, when she opened them again she was home and sat on her bed, a couple of seconds later Jake exploded through the door

"what happened, how'd we get home?"

they were home and the sun was shining in the sky

"we're back where we should be, if the Trickster hadn't messed with time"

he was only silent for a few seconds before another questions bubbled to the surface

"ok but how do we remember, we shouldn't remember, or should we, oh head rush"

he collapsed dramatically onto the bed

"we still have the cube pieces, now come on i want to check outside"

jumping down the stairs they both ripped open the front door the street outside looked normal, and looking at Sarah-Jane's house they could see the roof was back to one piece, they jumped when they noticed a stranger beside them

"not bad you two, i'm impressed"

the stranger who had rescued them from the Trickster stood beside them, down the street they spotted River

"is it over?"

Jake's question mirrored his sisters thoughts

"yep you did it, i never would have thought it could have been Mara though, i'm impressed you figured it out"

he smiled but now that she was certain they were safe Lisa's anger pushed to the surface

"then why the hell did you make us do it, we almost died several times over, why couldn't you do this"

his smile faltered and he looked ashamedly at his feet

"the Tricksters power was preventing safe time travel, we could only safely travel between now and the moment of Luke's death, the time the Trickster changed, and with him following me everywhere i barely had time to give you all the clues you needed, if i had tried to find Marcus in this timeline myself the Trickster would have killed him, and then you would never have had the chance to speak to him"

she was still angry but she accepted what he said

"what about Mara, whats going to happen to her"

the stranger looked thoughtful

"thats one of the reasons i set all this happening now, because not only is this the day you defeated the trickster, in the proper timeline this is also the day the Mara crashes, its just a shame nobody knows that it's happening"

with that he turned on his heels and walked off they watched as he and River disappeared

"come on we have to hurry"

before she could question her brother he was across the road and baging on Sarah-Jane's door

"Sarah-Jane open the door we need to talk to you"

before she could stop him the door opened and Sarah-Jane stood in front of them

"what's all the noise, and where do you think you're going?"

Jake had already pushed passed and was running up the stairs, Lisa apologised and they both rushed after him they heard him in the attic yelling for Mr Smith at the top if his lungs

"now what are you doing?"

Jake was banging on the wall containing Mr Smith who wasn't coming out of the wall

"the guy said that this is the day that Mara crashes but nobody knows, so we have to tell them, please Sarah-Jane we need Mr Smith"

forgoing the obvious questions she stepped forwards

"Mr Smith i need you" the fanfare blared and Mr Smith opened from the wall "Mr Smith i'm not sure what exactly is happening but these two need your help"

Lisa stood next to her brother, she finally realised what he was trying to do

"we need to contact Luke and Marcus, its about a friend of their's called Mara"

Mr smith opened a window and Luke and Marcus appeared on the screen

"oh hey mum i was just coming online to talk to you, who are those two?"

he had a confused expression

"sorry Luke we'll explain in a second, your friend Mara and Marcus's ship Aphelion have crashed on a planet somewhere, you need to get someone to help or Mara is going to die"

Marcus's eyes widened in surprise but he pulled out his scanner anyway

"Mr smith can you help me connect to Solaris" a second window appeared on the screen and Krell stood at the screen "i know what you're going to say Krell and i know this is a private secure line but this is important, i need you to find my ship, its been involved in a crash and the pilot is injured"

Krell accepted the order worldlessly and stepped away from the screen to send out a search party, he cut the connection promising to contact them when they had found something, Luke turned back to the screen

"ok now that's sorted can you two explain how you know all this?"

it took almost and hour to explain during which time Marcus got a message telling them that Mara had been recovered alive, and was being treated, Jake had jumped up and down at that point making everyone laugh

"the Trickster is a powerful villain, i'm amazed you managed to defeat him, why don't you come down for some cookies, i think it's the least you both deserve"

they waved their goodbyes to Marcus and Luke and followed Sarah-Jane down the stairs. at oxford university Luke and Marcus were still processing everything that happened

"your mum is right the trickster is one dangerous villain, i'm glad Lisa and Jake managed to stop him, the two of us never saw him coming"

the last thing Luke could remember was the fight with assassin in the Tardis, and then waking up this morning, hard to believe it all had happened

"i wish we knew who this stranger was, how does he know when to appear and what to do?"

Marcus shrugged his shoulders in confusion, neither of them notcied the door to the room open

"who indeed"

they both jumped up from where they sat and stared in disbelief, the stranger in front of them pressed a button on the perception filter around his neck and neither of them could believe who they saw

"Luke, it's you"

Luke stared at the future version of himself, he looked more or less the same just a little older and more experienced

"so it's you thats been helping us all this time...and you knew when to help because i had already seen it, but then when are you from and what timeline"

the future Luke smiled

"i'm from this timeline 362 days into your future, i found the tricksters box on my desk one day, next thing i know the timeline warps around me, and the Trickster has a hold over the entire world, i found River and escaped back in time, interfered in the moments i was supposed to and all the while tried to figure out what the Trickster had done"

Marcus collapsed into the computer chair

"so you're from his future, the Trickster messed with the past to gain strength to take over in the present, that about right"

both Luke's nodded their agreement before the younger Luke looked at himself

"so what now?"

his future self looked around the room for a second before speaking

"362 days from now mark the date you have to come back and do all this, interfere in time but it will be much easier for you because the Trickster will be out of the picture, make sure you keep the timeline from getting out of shape, as for me i'm headed back to my own time, where hopefully everything is back where it should be" he turned to leave but before he got out the door he turned to look into the room "be careful with River, her help didn't come for free, she needs us for something, i don't know what cause it hasn't happened yet, so just enjoy this next year OK"

young Luke nodded his head and the stranger disappeared with the device on his wrist, he felt the usual stomach churning feeling of time travel without a capsule and when he had solid ground under his feet again he was face to face with River

"i've held up my end of the deal, now it's your turn Luke, and i'm sorry, but for you, this is when everything changes"

* * *

i've left myself a few things to play with if i ever go back to this story, but for the forseeable future this is the end of this storyline, hope you enjoyed


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